Legion of Merit honoree

Service: seven letters that resonate with layers of meaning. One word that best defined an extraordinary life.  This single guiding principle led the son of a Hungarian immigrant to be the first in his family to attend college, to become a doctor, to attain high rank in the military and to own a home-the American dream.  

            

            Service to country, to community, to family and to God

Awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious service from April 1943 to October 1979, culminating as Commander of the 8th Brigade, the largest medical command in the united states.  He was instrumental in organizing the Brigade and served with distinction as its first Chief of Staff.  He was awarded ten other medals, four with stars or oak leaf clusters. He saw action in World War II and served during the Korean War.  he continued in the reserves. 

Raised in New Jersey, he attended The Ohio State University. His studies were interrupted by World War II.  He returned to complete a degree in Optometry and entered private practice, helping others to see clearly.  service was his greatest passion, and he ascended to the highest levels of responsibility in nearly every organization he ever joined. His lifelong passions included, playing golf, OSU football, the yankees, Sinatra, Steaks, Streisand and his friends.  To his family, his greatest legacy is joy, honor and dedication.  

To honor him by creating a platform to serve others –our military men and women who themselves served our country—seems poetic.  No doubt  he is protesting across the heavens that his name be attached to such a thing.  For all he achieved, he remained humble.  He carried himself with the quiet confidence of a born leader.

The Colonel very nearly became a General.  Under review for promotion he was cited as an outstanding example of a great officer.  He was recommended “for immediate promotion” to General, receiving two perfect scores of 100 points. Politics intervened and “his star” went to John S.D. Eisenhower, son of the former President and Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The Colonel didn’t need a star, because he was a star human being.

the “wall” provides a needed platform for those who want to express what they saw, what they felt,  what they lived through.  to give them voice.

With deep gratitude and love, it is my honor to dedicate this project for our military men and women, in the name of the man I have been blessed to call my father.  Your light continues to shine!

Ricky L. Schultz

June 11, 2012