Marlboro honors soldier for his supreme sacrifice

Marlboro honors soldier
for his supreme sacrifice
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer

LARRY RAMER Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg (l) and Andrea Mesh (r), the founder of Support our Soldiers, were among the people who honored Raymond and Cheryl Doltz in a ceremony at Marlboro Town Hall. Their son, Army Spc. Ryan Doltz, was killed in action in Iraq in June.

MARLBORO — A group of township dignitaries and the family of fallen soldier Army Spc. Ryan Doltz gathered at Town Hall on July 13 to remember and honor Doltz, who was killed on June 5 while serving in Iraq.

Doltz, 26, who lived in Mine Hill, Morris County, was killed by a roadside bomb while serving as a member of the New Jersey National Guard, said his mother, Cheryl.

Doltz’s uncle, Marlboro resident William Waple, said his nephew wanted to serve in the war.

"I never met anybody in the service, and I served my four years, who was as determined as Ryan to do what he was about to do," said Waple.

LARRY RAMER Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg (r) spends a moment with township resident William Waple, whose nephew, Army Spc. Ryan Doltz, was killed in Iraq in June.

He related that Ryan’s fellow soldiers in the National Guard said he was "so gung-ho and believed in what he was doing."

Doltz broke both of his heels during a training exercise in New Jersey and could have avoided going to Iraq, but that is not what he chose to do, Waple said.

"I think he [fooled] everybody in the National Guard into thinking nothing was really the matter with him," Waple said. "Ryan rushed his recovery so he could join his buddies" in Iraq.

Doltz, who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall, was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Lexington, Va., Waple said.

"Ryan learned a lot of values from his family and from the Virginia Military Institute," Waple said.

Doltz’s father, Raymond, was the chief firefighter of Mine Hill and his mother has taught in the Dover Township school system for more than 30 years, Waple said.

"I still think Ryan is going to be coming home," he said. "I still don’t believe he has been killed. I love Ryan and I’m going to miss him."

Cheryl Doltz talked about her son and cried briefly a few times.

"Ryan was not meek and mild. He had a heart of gold. When he got involved with something he liked, usually it dealt with politics or history, he never let go," she said.

Doltz said her son enjoyed "pushing the limit."

"At VMI one of the things you learn is how to bend the rules without breaking them and Ryan was very good at that," Doltz said.

She explained how Ryan joined groups of VMI cadets who captured a flag from the Citadel, VMI’s chief rival.

Ryan struggled as a physics major at VMI before switching to history during his junior year, Cheryl remembered. He liked trying to get his younger brother in trouble, and he loved rugby.

Among the people who attended the event at Town Hall were Marlboro Mayor Robert Kleinberg; Andrea Mesh, the or­ganizer of SOS (Support Our Soldiers), a group that helps soldiers and their fami­lies; Jack Williams, the president of the Marlboro Improvement and Cultural Fund, which has provided financial sup­port for SOS; Police Chief Robert Holmes; police Sgt. Paul Conover; Tom Rose, the chief of the Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company; Julian Batlan of Manalapan, representing the Jewish War Veterans Lt. Seth Dvorin Post 972; and representa­tives of the Marlboro Office of Public Information.

Mesh, who organized the event, said it was held to remember the "heroism, valor and ultimate sacrifice" of Ryan Doltz. Mesh said Doltz was "a soldier called to battle to fight a vicious, cowardly enemy who fights an unfair war."

"He put his life on the line in Iraq for every man, woman and child in this coun­try in the name of freedom and the way of life we Americans hold dear," she said. "I honor Ryan and I honor his loved ones, who will carry on their lives with his memory."

Kleinberg presented Doltz’s family with an American flag that was provided by Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ).

"I am honored to be representing Marlboro Township in the recognition of Army Spc. Ryan Edward Doltz for his supreme sacrifice for the United States of America," an emotional Kleinberg said. "Army Spc. Doltz gave the ultimate sacri­fice to preserve peace and prosperity for us here in America. On behalf of a grate­ful nation, we present you with this Congressional flag."

Holt also sent a letter to the Doltz family to express his condolences.