Alumni Hall of Fame
Military Service to Country (2024)

Howard W. Schultz was a member of the St. Marys Memorial High School Class of 1928. Following graduation he joined the Army National Guard in St. Marys. He was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion of the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th “Buckeye” Division. Schultz received a commission as a First Lieutenant in 1939. In the fall of 1940, the Division was called into federal service in support of the Second World War. Schultz trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. During that time, he was promoted to Captain and given command of Company K, which now consisted of soldiers and draftees from St. Marys, Ohio, and the surrounding areas. During his time at Indiantown Gap, Schultz had the opportunity to spend time with his son, Charles, who had accompanied him to the training camp and saw him off to war. The Buckeye Division eventually departed from San Francisco in May 1942 for the Asia-Pacific Campaign where Captain Schultz would spend the next four years.

One month later, Captain Schultz arrived in the Fiji Islands to prepare for combat action against the Japanese. During that time, he was promoted to Major and served as Executive Officer of the Third Battalion and as the Battalion S-3. The Third Battalion conducted mopping-up operations on Guadalcanal, cleaning up remaining pockets of Japanese resistance before moving on to the Island of New Georgia, where his Battalion fought to take the island and the all-important Munda Airfield. During the fighting, Schultz would lose two fellow St. Marys men in combat, Staff Sergeant Charles V. Kettler and Sergeant Herbert C. Linville. 

In the fall of 1943, the entire Division landed on the Island of Bougainville where the 148th Infantry led the way against two Divisions of Japanese soldiers. During the fighting, heavy casualties were taken by both sides until the Japanese withdrew in March 1944. In the fall of 1944, Schultz was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the Third Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment, including Company K and several additional Companies from Northwest Ohio.

During the month of January 1945, the 37th Division joined forces with the U.S. 6th Army to pursue the Japanese Army to the Philippine Islands. Lieutenant Colonel Schultz led the Battalion ashore on the beaches of Lingayen Gulf on the Island of Luzon and fought their way 110 miles through the Great Central Plains to the capital city of Manila. On February 5, 1945, the Third Battalion was involved in heavy fighting on the streets of Manila. The lead elements came under fire and suffered many casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Schultz personally led a team of litter bearers to evacuate the wounded men. Lieutenant Colonel Schultz risked his life, but remained until every casualty was evacuated and led his men to fight off an enemy attack. For his actions that day, Lieutenant Colonel Schultz was awarded the Silver Star Medal. Lieutenant Colonel Schultz went on to lead the Battalion through brutal fighting in Manila, Myoko Mountain, Balete Pass, the Grassy Ridge, and the notorious Elbow with everything from cannons to bayonets until the Japanese Army was forced to surrender. 

Lieutenant Colonel Schultz had no peer as a fighting Battalion Commander. He was courageous, highly ethical, and asked nothing of his subordinates that he was not willing to do himself. He led the Third Battalion from the front, not from the Battalion Command Post. His sense of duty and steadfastness under fire carried his Battalion successfully through difficult and dangerous missions. Upon returning to the States, Howard Schultz served with the U.S. Army Field Forces in Virginia and with the Army Reserve. Schultz was promoted to Colonel before retiring from the Army. During his career, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal for Valor, The Legion of Merit, two Bronze Star Medals, and a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.  

Only his friends and superiors knew that he was blind in one eye. A medical waiver enabled him to serve during the war years. The Surgeon General of the Army ruled against Schultz’s commission into the regular Army after the war. It was that reason he chose to return to civilian life. Upon returning to St. Marys, Schultz owned and managed Schultz Construction Company. Many buildings stand today testifying to his building talents and skills. In his service to his hometown, Schultz served numerous terms as City Councilman and as the Mayor of St. Marys. Howard W. Schultz passed in 1997 and was laid to rest in Elm Grove Cemetery. 

For his courage, bravery, gallantry in action, and repeatedly risking his own life to save his fellow soldiers; and his service to a grateful nation during World War II; for his many medals and citations; and for embracing one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States Army, the Infantry Officer, the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation inducts Colonel Howard W. Schultz into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.