In Memory

William Salzer

William Salzer

John William Salzer, 26, was shot and killed Nov. 19, 1969, in his office at Ft. Riley, Kans., by a fellow soldier. Capt. Salzer, according to press reports at the time, was a graduate of the Medical Service Corps Training school at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., and was commanding officer of the Medical Holding Company at Irwin Army Hospital, Ft. Riley.


Bill had arrived at Ft. Riley on March 2, 1969, from Okinawa.


According to press reports, Bill’s killer was a patient at Irwin and under Bill’s command. The assailant was being assigned to a detail by Bill when the soldier shot Bill. The assailant had been in the Army for 14 years and had been a patient at Irwin since Aug. 29 for treatment of a head injury, according to the Manhattan (Kans.) Mercury.


Bill died of gunshot wounds to the neck and skull.


Bill's Woodward activities included Council on World Affairs 4; Phi Beta Gamma 2, 3, Vice Pres. 4.

 



 
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02/17/11 08:56 AM #1    

Bill Curry

Bill, Al Mosher and I spent many nights in the summer of 1961 going to Cincinnati Reds games, the year the Reds went to the World Series. Al Mosher was killed in Vietnam in December of 1967, and Bill, who was in the Army at the time, escorted Al's body home for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. I flew down from New York to attend -- and I never saw Bill alive again: In 1969, he was shot to death by a fellow soldier in Kansas, where Bill had been stationed.

I could be a tad rusty on the details above, but the memories of those hot summer nights at Crosley Field, the three of us out there in the right-field bleachers, remain strong, vivid and treasured.


02/17/11 04:14 PM #2    

Carol Quisno (Pearce)

 We all miss Bill and the details of his death make the loss even greater.


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