SGT RYAN E. DOLTZ
112th FA, renamed C Co.,
TF 89th Military Police Brigade,
as part of TF 759th Military Police Battalion
Age
26, of Mine Hill, New Jersey;
Assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, Army
National Guard, Lawrenceville, N.J.;
Killed June 5, 2004 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device
in Baghdad.
(www.militarycity.com)
FROM "ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WEBSITE TAPS Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, Virginia Military Institute Class of 2000"
(http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/redoltz.htm)
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)
Funeral arrangements have been announced for Specialist Ryan Doltz '00 who died last week.
Friends may call at the Tuttle Funeral Home in Randolph, N.J., on Monday, June 14 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. A chapel service will be held at the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church in Mine Hill, N.J. on Tuesday, June 15 at 10 a.m. Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, June 16 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m.
The Doltz Family has requested that VMI provide pall bearers and a bag piper for the service.
The family and the VMI Alumni Association are working closely together to create a scholarship fund in lieu of flowers.
Please continue to check this site for details. They will be posted as they become available.
VIEWING:
Monday, June 14, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph, N.J.
CHURCH SERVICE:
Tuesday, June 15, 10 a.m., Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, Mine Hill, N.J.
GRAVESIDE SERVICE:
Wednesday, June 16, 1 p.m., Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
The Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship
Ryan Doltz's family has asked that a scholarship be established in his memory to benefit a cadet in the Band Company. Gifts made to the VMI Foundation in Ryan's memory will be used to establish the Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship. To contribute to this scholarship, checks should be made out the VMI Foundation, with a notation that the gift is in memory of Ryan Doltz. On-line donations can also be made through the Foundation Website. Checks should be sent to:
VMI Foundation
P.O. Box 932
Lexington, Va. 24450
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)
Funeral arrangements have been announced for Specialist Ryan Doltz '00 who died last week.
Friends may call at the Tuttle Funeral Home in Randolph, N.J., on Monday, June 14 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. A chapel service will be held at the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church in Mine Hill, N.J. on Tuesday, June 15 at 10 a.m. Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, June 16 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m.
The Doltz Family has requested that VMI provide pall bearers and a bag piper for the service.
The family and the VMI Alumni Association are working closely together to create a scholarship fund in lieu of flowers.
Please continue to check this site for details. They will be posted as they become available.
VIEWING:
Monday, June 14, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph, N.J.
CHURCH SERVICE:
Tuesday, June 15, 10 a.m., Mine Hill Presbyterian Church, Mine Hill, N.J.
GRAVESIDE SERVICE:
Wednesday, June 16, 1 p.m., Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
The Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship
Ryan Doltz's family has asked that a scholarship be established in his memory to benefit a cadet in the Band Company. Gifts made to the VMI Foundation in Ryan's memory will be used to establish the Ryan Doltz '00 Scholarship. To contribute to this scholarship, checks should be made out the VMI Foundation, with a notation that the gift is in memory of Ryan Doltz. On-line donations can also be made through the Foundation Website. Checks should be sent to:
VMI Foundation
P.O. Box 932
Lexington, Va. 24450
FROM "ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WEBSITE TAPS Specialist Ryan E. Doltz, Virginia Military Institute Class of 2000"
(http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/redoltz.htm)
Gold Stars Replace Blue Stars in New Jersey Soldier's Town
By John Holl
Courtesy of the New York Times
Published: June 8, 2004
MINE HILL, N.J.,
June 7, 2004 - For two months, an American Legion blue star has hung in
the window of Specialist Ryan E. Doltz's childhood home here, a signal
from his family to the world that he was serving in Iraq.
Tomorrow, the blue star will be replaced with a gold one. Specialist Doltz, a 26-year-old member of the New Jersey National Guard, was killed in an attack on Saturday on the outskirts of Baghdad.
He was one of four soldiers from New Jersey's National Guard Third Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery unit killed last weekend in two separate attacks. His name was not officially released by the National Guard, but his family confirmed his death.
On Friday, Sergeant Francis Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt, and Specialist Christopher M. Duffy, 26, of Brick, came under attack shortly after 1 p.m. local time on Palestine Street near the Shiite district of Sadr City. Three other soldiers from the New Jersey National Guard were also injured in that attack. Details about Saturday's attack that killed Specialist Doltz and the other soldier were not released by the military, and officials would not release the name or hometown of the fourth soldier until his family returned from a trip out of the country. They were expected to return home Monday night.
All of the soldiers were members of Task Force Baghdad, a group that provided security and drivers to various military convoys, according to Lt. Col. Roberta Nietz, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
The soldiers were the first four members of the New Jersey National Guard to be killed in Iraq and the first to die while serving overseas since World War II. There are approximately 300 guard soldiers from the state serving in Iraq.
Police officers from Wharton, N.J., who also serve Mine Hill, were stationed on Monday outside the Doltz's yellow house on a quiet street lined with trees, neat lawns and blooming gardens.
A police officer who declined to give his name but said he knew the fallen soldier held a framed photograph of Specialist Doltz taken before his 2002 graduation from Virginia Military Institute.
"This is the photo the family wants everyone to see," the officer said. "It was Ryan's proudest moment."
But at the Mine Hill volunteer rescue squad building where Specialist Doltz worked for more than two years as an emergency medical technician, Capt. Edna Deacon of the rescue squad remembered the soldier as "a strong, dedicated, delightful and gun-ho young man who made everyone he knew extremely proud.'' She said Specialist Doltz had aspirations to become an Army helicopter pilot and medic.
Her husband, Jack, who is the president of the rescue squad and who worked at the Picatinny Arsenal as a weapons expert for 37 years, said he spent hours talking about weapons and the military with Specialist Doltz.
"He would send me pictures from Iraq of weapons they confiscated and asked me all about them,'' Mr. Deacon said. Specialist Doltz was the first soldier from Mine Hill, a town of about 3,700 in Morris County, killed since the Vietnam War, according to town officials.Captain Deacon said Specialist Doltz worked for the rescue squad with his younger brother, Gregory, a gardener, who planted a floral arrangement in front of the rescue squad building to resemble the American Legion blue star that hangs in the window of the rescue squad building and the one at Specialist Doltz's home. Capt. Deacon said that the blue flowers making up the star would also be changed to gold.
Tomorrow, the blue star will be replaced with a gold one. Specialist Doltz, a 26-year-old member of the New Jersey National Guard, was killed in an attack on Saturday on the outskirts of Baghdad.
He was one of four soldiers from New Jersey's National Guard Third Battalion of the 112th Field Artillery unit killed last weekend in two separate attacks. His name was not officially released by the National Guard, but his family confirmed his death.
On Friday, Sergeant Francis Carvill, 51, of Carlstadt, and Specialist Christopher M. Duffy, 26, of Brick, came under attack shortly after 1 p.m. local time on Palestine Street near the Shiite district of Sadr City. Three other soldiers from the New Jersey National Guard were also injured in that attack. Details about Saturday's attack that killed Specialist Doltz and the other soldier were not released by the military, and officials would not release the name or hometown of the fourth soldier until his family returned from a trip out of the country. They were expected to return home Monday night.
All of the soldiers were members of Task Force Baghdad, a group that provided security and drivers to various military convoys, according to Lt. Col. Roberta Nietz, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
The soldiers were the first four members of the New Jersey National Guard to be killed in Iraq and the first to die while serving overseas since World War II. There are approximately 300 guard soldiers from the state serving in Iraq.
Police officers from Wharton, N.J., who also serve Mine Hill, were stationed on Monday outside the Doltz's yellow house on a quiet street lined with trees, neat lawns and blooming gardens.
A police officer who declined to give his name but said he knew the fallen soldier held a framed photograph of Specialist Doltz taken before his 2002 graduation from Virginia Military Institute.
"This is the photo the family wants everyone to see," the officer said. "It was Ryan's proudest moment."
But at the Mine Hill volunteer rescue squad building where Specialist Doltz worked for more than two years as an emergency medical technician, Capt. Edna Deacon of the rescue squad remembered the soldier as "a strong, dedicated, delightful and gun-ho young man who made everyone he knew extremely proud.'' She said Specialist Doltz had aspirations to become an Army helicopter pilot and medic.
Her husband, Jack, who is the president of the rescue squad and who worked at the Picatinny Arsenal as a weapons expert for 37 years, said he spent hours talking about weapons and the military with Specialist Doltz.
"He would send me pictures from Iraq of weapons they confiscated and asked me all about them,'' Mr. Deacon said. Specialist Doltz was the first soldier from Mine Hill, a town of about 3,700 in Morris County, killed since the Vietnam War, according to town officials.Captain Deacon said Specialist Doltz worked for the rescue squad with his younger brother, Gregory, a gardener, who planted a floral arrangement in front of the rescue squad building to resemble the American Legion blue star that hangs in the window of the rescue squad building and the one at Specialist Doltz's home. Capt. Deacon said that the blue flowers making up the star would also be changed to gold.
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