COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, U.S.A. U.S. AIR FORCE 1STLT, PACIFIC AIR FORCES, HICKAM AFB, HI 05/20/2009, NEAR KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
CREVE COEUR, MO — On a day America honored fallen war heroes, Air Force 1stLT Roslyn Schulte, one of these heroes, was remembered at a funeral in suburban St. Louis. She was 25.
“Memorial Day will never be the same,” Rabbi Mark Shook told the hundreds who filled Congregation Temple Israel. “No one in this place will ever take Memorial Day for granted again.”
1stLT Schulte was the Air Force Academy’s first female graduate killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Roslyn Schulte grew up in Ladue. She captained a state championship lacrosse team at John Burroughs School in St. Louis County. Friends described her as smart, compassionate and determined.
“It’s totally going to change our community,” said a friend, 27-year-old Elise Berger. “When someone that close to you dies, you have a new appreciation.”
1stLT Schulte dreamed of being a fighter pilot since age 12. At the academy, she was among the top in her class. In her third year, she decided to pursue military intelligence instead of aviation, believing she could do more for her country in that role, explained her brother, Todd.
She was sent to Afghanistan in February. Where, according to her parents , she helped teach Afghan military officials how to gather and interpret intelligence.
Robert Schulte remembers how his daughter, as a young girl, organized a group of her peers on the first day of summer camp to perform a play. In high school, Roslyn L. Schulte also captained the lacrosse team and became an all-American lacrosse player.
“She wanted to be in charge. And she was,” he said.
Friends had questioned her about the idea of working in a group made up mostly of men. “Do you think they are going to bully me?” she would defiantly respond.
At the Air Force Academy, Roslyn Schulte majored in political science, interned for former Sen. Alan Allard, R-CO, became a group commander — one of the academy’s highest positions — and captained the lacrosse team, said her mother, Suzie.
“She knew how to talk to chiefs of staff, to generals, to privates, and they listened,” Robert Schulte said. “And that’s what we needed, a great leader of people.”
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