PORT ANGELES — Army Capt. Joseph W. Schultz was remembered Saturday not only as a soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice, but also as a friend, a son and a leader.
He was the boy whose mom forbid him to play with toy guns who grew up to become the decorated Green Beret who always led from the front, the ambitious man with a future in politics and the compassionate friend.
Throughout the memorial service at Olympic Cellars Winery east of Port Angeles, friends, family and fellow soldiers of Capt. Schultz painted a narrative of a man who died for his country but would be remembered for the way he lived.
About 340 people attended the service.
“For me personally . . . he hated it when I say this. He was an inspiration,” said Jim Deboo, a childhood friend and director of the California Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services.
Capt. Schultz, the only son of Port Angeles resident Betsy Reed Schultz, died May 29 in Afghanistan’s Wardak province when his Humvee was hit by an improvised explosive. He was 36.
Two other soldiers died in the blast.
The Humvee was the lead vehicle in the convoy, noted Staff Sgt. Jeb Cleveland.
That came as no surprise to those who, like Cleveland, served with him in Afghanistan, he said.
Capt. Schultz would always be in front of his men, whether walking into a village or driving down a road, Cleveland said.
“He would never ask anyone to take on a task that he would not do himself,” said Cleveland, who became choked up while speaking.
“He will not be forgotten.”
Capt. Schultz also was admired by his superiors.
“Joseph clearly exemplified what all [officers] like to be to their men,” said Col. Mark Schwartz in a letter read by Lt. Col. Donald Franklin, adding that he has never seen such “passion and admiration” for a captain.
Capt. Schultz received three medals — the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star — posthumously.
Franklin presented them to Capt. Schultz’s mother, a former innkeeper and former Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce president.
Capt. Schultz had previously been awarded 10 medals.
While speaking at the service, Reed Schultz started by saying she is a “very proud mom.”
“Maybe I created a warrior, maybe he was born that way,” she said.
“He wanted to give other people a chance to live like we do.”
Capt. Schultz’s uncle, Port Angeles gallery owner Bob Stokes, recalled being asked by a television reporter after returning to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from Dover Air Force Base, where Capt. Schultz’s body was flown, what his nephew’s death means.
At the time, he had no answer.
“I’ve come to realize what it means,” Stokes said.
“I like to call what happened an amazing deed he did for us and our way of life.”
Stokes then urged everyone to remember Capt. Schultz by doing some good for someone else.
“Do a good deed for other human beings,” he said.
“I think that is the ultimate meaning.”
A U.S. Marine Corps. honor guard provided a 21-gun salute at the service.
Fifty-two American Legion Riders lined the winery’s driveway during the service holding U.S. flags in respect of their fallen brethren.
They later escorted a Gold Star Banner that was placed on Lincoln Street. The banner honors soldiers from or connected to Port Angeles who have died while in service.
“We’re here for him like he’s been there for us,” said Legion Rider Jeff McFarland of Port Angeles.
One was placed last year for Navy Seabee Joshua Dae Ho Carrell, who died in 2009 after contracting malaria while serving in Monrovia, Liberia.
Capt. Schultz, who grew up in Sacramento, Calif., will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
Reed Schultz is requesting that donations in her son’s name be made to the Fisher House at Dover Air Force Base.
The house, run by the Fisher House Foundation, hosts families of fallen soldiers when their remains are flown to the base.
Checks, with a note directing them to the Dover Fisher House, can be sent to Fisher House Foundation Inc., 111 Rockville Pike, Suite 420, Rockville, MD 20850-5000.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.