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Died on the Field of Honor
By John
On 7 June, 2004, our brother Sgt. Ryan Doltz died on the field of honor.
He was a lion of a man, ferociously rehabilitating two broken heels to join his fellow soldiers in Iraq, and honoring his commitments as an enlisted man even though his VMI diploma more than qualified him to be an officer.
A satellite phone in the combat zone 6,000 miles away brought the voice of Spc. Ryan Doltz to the tidy yellow house in Morris County for the final time on Wednesday.The 26-year-old New Jersey Army National Guard soldier from Mine Hill was checking in, giving his parents, Cheryl and Raymond Doltz, an update from Baghdad.
"It was hot and it was dirty, but he thought things were improving," his mother said yesterday. The Iraqi children "loved candy." And while the Iraqi teenagers seemed to be behind much of the violence, the older Iraqis appreciated the stability brought by the occupation force that included her son's unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery.
On Saturday, the Doltz family learned their son was among four New Jersey National Guard troops from the Morristown unit to die in separate attacks a day apart in Baghdad.
"It's like a bad dream," said Edna Deacon, captain on the Mine Hill Volunteer First Aid Squad, which Doltz joined before leaving for Iraq.
In 1998, Ryan carved out his own little chunk of fame when he starred in a Norelco razor commercial that was shot at VMI. I remember Ryan telling me that the director picked him out of a crowd of cadets because he "looked like Tom Sizemore." Here's the commercial, Ryan is "baby-face."
I'll always remember 7 June as the day a friend directed me to this notice from VMI's Superintendent:
The Superintendent regrets to inform the VMI community of the combat death of Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, VMI Class of 2000, on June 5, 2004, in Iraq. Specialist Doltz was mobilized with the New Jersey Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, which deployed to Iraq in February. The unit was retrained to perform military police duties prior to its deployment. He died Saturday when an improvised explosive device was set off.Specialist Doltz was a native of Mine Hill, New Jersey. He matriculated with the Class of 2000, but graduated with the Class of 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He was a member of the Band Company. Many friends of VMI remember him as one of the four cadets featured in the national television commercial filmed at VMI for Norelco in 1998.
While attending VMI, Specialist Doltz was a member of the Virginia Army National Guard's Battery A, 1st Battalion, 246th Field Artillery in Martinsville. He earned an Emergency Medical Technician certificate while at VMI, and later qualified for the EMT certification in New Jersey. He was a member of the Mine Hill, N.J., Volunteer Rescue Squad until his mobilization.
While at the United States Army Field Artillery Training Center in Fort Sill, OK, Specialist Doltz won the Top Gun Award for military proficiency at section tasks associated with 13B10 training.
Among survivors are his parents, Raymond and Cheryl Doltz, a sister, Anne, and brother, Gregory, all of Mine Hill, N.J. Funeral arrangements are to be announced.
Funeral Arrangements (Updated June 10)
His death shook the entire VMI community to the core. Everyone....everyone loved Ryan. His Arlington National Cemetary funeral was attended by a sea of cadets, alumni, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. At the time, I was working an hourly job at a local moving company while I waited for some medical paperwork to clear with the Air Force. When I told them that I'd need the afternoon off so I could attend Ryan's funeral, they coldly told me "no." I said "too bad, I'm going anyway. If you need me tomorrow, you can call," and walked off. Later that afternoon, as I was looking over the hundreds of active duty servicemen in attendance, I couldn't help but to wonder how many of them told hard-assed Commanders the same thing. Ryan had that effect on people.
I'll be forever grateful to Matt Burden and Kevin & Greg of Pundit Review for remembering Ryan on the anniversary of his death last year. Listen to the Someone You Should Know segment.
Our remembrance from last year.
If you'd like to do something in Ryan's honor, the Class of 2000 established a scholarship in Ryan's name not long after he fell. You can donate here.
As long as there is an OPFOR blog, Ryan will be remembered here every 7th of June.
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Comments
Ryan and I shared some close mutual friends, and it was through them that I heard the news. I still remember that phone call. Those who remember the theft of the Citadel jeep in 2000 may not know that the whole endeavour might have failed if Ryan hadn't made a sudden, unplanned drive to Charleston to pass on some critical intel he had gotten. A good man who was always smiling or laughing, and made the VMI experience just a little bit more tolerable.
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A good man... sorely missed... a great and terrible loss.
Never forgotten.