Air Force Lt. Roslyn Schulte of Ladue, Missouri, was buried on Memorial Day, 2009.We have remembered her previously as best we can:
I noted in 2012:
I remember seeing this post at Gateway Pundit, on May 26, 2009, which I made Post of the Day, regarding Lt. Schulte’s death, and it has stayed with me for these past three years:
Lt. Roslyn Schulte was the first female Air Force Academy graduate to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. She died last week in Afghanistan after the vehicle she was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb.Lt. Schulte could have attended an Ivy League school. Instead she chose the Air Force Academy. She dreamed of being a fighter pilot since she was 12. At the academy, she was among the top in her class.Her funeral was yesterday at the Congregation Temple Israel in St. Louis. Her boyfriend U.S. Air Force Cpt. Bruce Cohn announced that he was going to propose to Roslyn this summer.
In 2009, Daily Kos had an excellent round up of news and personal reports about Lt. Schulte’s life.
Lt. Schulte’s friend was interviewed on Boston public radio recently:
Former Air Force Captain Joshua Carroll still wears a bracelet with the name Roslyn Schulte engraved on it. She was an Air Force lieutenant who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2009.Roz, as she was known, was the first female U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to be killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. She was 25. For Josh, thinking about her on Memorial Day is not an isolated thing.“For myself and thousands of other veterans across this country, Memorial Day is every day, ” he told Jeremy. “I certainly understand people wanting to partake in the festivities and cookouts, and I think in a way in the bigger picture, the people who put themselves in harms way like Roz did, they did that so we can continue on with our lives and do those things.
David Frommer, a former U.S. military chaplain, wrote a few days ago at Tablet Magazine:
Like most of our Jewish service members, Ros Schulte was a Reform Jew, but Reform Jewish chaplains are largely absent from today’s military—only three have deployed overseas since 2001. Fortunately, Chaplain Henry Soussan, an Orthodox rabbi, was stationed in Kuwait at the time of Ros’ death and flew to Afghanistan to preside over her memorial service, which was scheduled to take place on Memorial Day itself.When Chaplain Soussan arrived at Camp Eggers in Kabul, where Ros had been stationed, the installation chaplain asked him what he was planning for the service.“I’ll give a eulogy and recite the traditional Jewish prayer for the dead,” Chaplain Soussan answered….“I had planned to say a prayer in Hebrew, if that would be all right,” Chaplain Soussan hesitantly said, as the installation chaplain looked on.“Chaplain, we are Americans,” the Commanding General replied. “We have to honor our people as Americans, just as we would in America. You’re the rabbi…. Say whatever you want—as long as it’s not over five minutes!”
Here is the video of Lt. Schulte’s coffin being loaded aboard an aircraft to return to the United States, along with Army reservist Shawn Pine, who was killed by the same roadside bomb in Afghanistan. You can hear part of the Hebrew prayer:
Lt. Schulte’s family, friends and boyfriend gathered at her grave yesterday to remember her. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a slideshow:
(Roslyn Schulte’s boyfriend Bruce Cohn (right) at remembrance, May 25, 2014)(Photo by Laurie Skrivan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, used with permission)
The U.S. Air Force Academy in 2010 inaugurated the 1st Lt. Roslyn Schulte Cadet Character and Leadership Award, given to a cadet each year. Here her parents make the presentation in 2010 to Cadet 1st Class Mychol Alexander:
(Bob and Susie Schulte present Cadet 1st Class Mychol Alexander with the first Lieutenant Roslyn Schulte Award for Cadet Character and Leadership, 2010)
I was so glad to see that someone tweeted out a memory
And a link to an article I had not seen before:
On this day we honor all those who fell in combat, including Johnny “Mike” Spann and Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto.
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