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Sgt. Tyler Holtz, 22, a member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, was serving on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Purple Heart and the Joint Service Achievement Medal.
His commanders praised him from the front lines.
Holtz “was a courageous and incredibly talented Ranger who died while leading his men against determined insurgents,” said Lt. Col. David Hodne, the commander of the Lewis-McChord-based Ranger battalion who is deployed with the unit. “Tyler Holtz personified the Ranger Creed to the final moments of his life, and his actions inspire us to do the same.”
Ranger regiment commander Col. Mark Odom said Holtz “possessed the character which makes up the foundations that our Army and nation are built on.”
Holtz joined the Army in October 2007 after he graduated from Mater Dei High School, a Catholic school in Santa Ana, Calif., with renowned sports programs. He played offensive and defensive line for the school’s football team, coach Bruce Rollinson told the Orange County Register.
“He led by example,” Rollinson said. “No task was too tough. Anything we asked him to do, he just took off and did it.”
The coach said he saw Holtz at a football game last year and the soldier joined the team in prayer.
“It’s a cliché, but he’s the kind of guy we’re very lucky was defending our country,” Rollinson said.
Holtz graduated from the Army’s Ranger program in 2008, and he joined the Lewis-McChord battalion in July of that year.
He is survived by his father, Andrew Holtz of Capistrano Beach, Calif.; and his mother, Karen Holtz, and three brothers, all of Dana Point, Calif.
Adam Ashton: 253-597-8646
adam.ashton@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/military
