Serving Inbetween Wars
By Lucy LeVon
Howard Russell Ullberg
8/10/1936 - 8/8/2008
Howard Russell Ullberg was born in New Jersey on August 10th, 1936.[1] At only four years old his family would move to Kings, New York. His family included his father Arthur Ullberg – who immigrated to the United States from Sweden, his mother Evelyn Ullberg – who originally was from New York, and his older brother Arthur Ullberg. After six years, his parents divorced and eventually, his mother remarried Leslie R. Bunce, moving both Howard and Aurther to Denver, Colorado in 1950. Throughout the 1950’s his mother would have four more children with Leslie, two of whom are still alive today.
When Howard was twenty-five in 1961, he would enlist in the United States Army. It is likely that he was influenced by his older brother Arthur, who had served in the Korean War. Although there is much debate surrounding the dates of the Vietnam War, Howard is considered a Peacetime Veteran, as he served from 1961 to 1962. This means he did not fight in active combat zones but rather was stationed in nearby zones, managing and preparing for upcoming conflict. During his service, he was classified as a Specialist Fourth Class, which would eventually be discontinued in 1978 and be ranked simply as a Specialist. This rank was one step above a Private First Class and was usually obtained after two years of service. As a Specialist, Howard would perform technical tasks within his unit and may have even commanded soldiers of a lower rank at times. While technically specialists were seen as below corporals in rank due to the amount of time they served, they had very similar responsibilities and salaries.
After Howard returned to Denver, he would earn a job at the Sam Fox Sheet Metal Company and most likely continue to work there until his retirement. He would spend the rest of his life between four addresses, two in Colorado and two in Arizona. Attached to the left is a photo from Thanksgiving 1978 of Howard, his older brother Arthur, and his mother.
Howard would eventually pass away on August 8th, 2008, only two days before his seventy-second birthday. It is unclear as to why his remains were left unclaimed but he eventually would be buried at Fort Logan in section C-1, while his brother would be buried two years later in section 30A
Footnotes ↓
[1] Information for this biography can be found at:
https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10053-93705162/howard-ulberg-in-1940-united-states-federal-census https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-11006-15930289/howard-r-ullberg-in-1950 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9105/records https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147284655/arthur-c.-ullberg?
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