Hometown: Adell, WI
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: Company B, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
Military Honors: Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: October 24, 1970 - KIA in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam
Age: 21
Conflict: Vietnam War, 1959-1975

Russell Mulder was born and raised in Adell, a small village of a few hundred people surrounded by Wisconsin dairy farms. Born on January 23, 1949, to parents Wesley and Leona (Miske) Mulder, he was the oldest of eight children, with younger siblings Doug, Christine, Monroe, Ron, Sandra, Andy, Joel.

Their father served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and, after his service, worked as a carpenter. Younger brother Doug also served his country in the Navy.

Russell attended Adell Grade School and later graduated from Random Lake High School with the class of 1967. His sister, Sandra, remembers that Russell was quiet and somewhat shy as a young man.

“He played tuba, at least for a short time,” recalled Sandra. “I remember that he took lessons during the summer at the school near our home. He had to cart that tuba back and forth in a coaster wagon.”

Along with his family, Mulder worshipped at nearby Hingham Reformed Church. He worked at Foremost Foods dairy co-op in Adell before entering the United States Army on March 4, 1969.

Sent to Vietnam

At the time, U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1959-1975) had escalated. Public support at home was shaken as Americans, for the first time, saw the realities of war on their televisions. Antiwar protests on college campuses and in Washington, D.C. were becoming more frequent and intense.

American troop strength in Vietnam had peaked at 543,400 in April of 1969. Military strategists at the Pentagon and politicians in Washington, D.C. launched a plan to reduce U.S. military presence, gradually handing over conduct of operations to their South Vietnamese allies.

Mulder was sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, for basic training as a medic before being deployed to Vietnam in March of 1970.

He was assigned to Company B, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, and stationed near Tây Ninh, 60 miles northwest of Saigon, along the Cambodian border.

In a letter home to his grandmother, Mulder described his surroundings and duties:

Most of the trees in Vietnam are rubber trees, then there is bamboo which is very thick and hard to walk through.

The jungles are very thick sometimes too. I haven’t seen any flowers though.

I was driving an APC [Armored Personnel Carrier], but as the medic I shouldn’t, although it was fun.

We have been doing Road Security to protect convoys as they drive along the road. Also we sweep the roads for mines. It is rather easy for me since I’m the medic. The guys call me “Doc.”

Right now I am pulling bunker guard and writing letters to keep myself occupied.

Mulder went on to say he’d heard that a few friends from church were getting married, and classmates from high school were also getting married.

Some of Specialist Mulder’s missions took him across the Vietnamese border, into Cambodia. U.S. military intelligence had identified a threat from enemy North Vietnamese and Viet Cong military sanctuaries forming in Cambodia.

Just as plans to reduce American military presence were underway, the prospect of the war expanding into “neutral” Cambodia caused more controversy at home. U.S. President Richard Nixon approved an invasion and bombing mission across the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

Final mission

Seven months after arriving in Vietnam, on October 24, 1970, Mulder’s unit was defending a fire base from attack in South Vietnam’s Phước Tuy Province.

Some elements of his unit moved into a “friendly” minefield—a defensive layout of mines meant to protect American and allied troops from attack. The unit suffered a high number of casualties, causing “Doc” Mulder to take action.

Col. T.J. Hanifren, chief of staff of the 25th Infantry Division, describes what happened next:

With complete disregard for his own safety, Mulder exposed himself to extreme danger as he moved through the minefield to aid his wounded comrades. When another mine was detonated, Specialist Mulder was mortally wounded. [Mulder’s] valorous actions contributed immeasurably to saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.

SPC Russell Wesley Mulder was lost at age 21, risking his own life to save others. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant and awarded the Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

He is honored at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., where his name is inscribed on Panel 6W, Line 19.

SGT Mulder’s father, Wesley, was a long-time member of the Adell American Legion Post #462. On May 29, 1982, the post was officially renamed The Russell W. Mulder Legion Post.

Mulder’s mother, Leona, told The Sheboygan Press: “We feel Russell, through his participation, has helped bring peace to Vietnam. To us, it means that Russell didn’t die in vain.”

Sources
Card photo and story details contributed by Mrs. Sandra (Mulder) Krier, SGT Mulder’s sister.
Together We Served: Mulder, Russell Wesley, SGT
U.S. Army Center of Military History: Vietnam War Campaigns
The Sheboygan Press, Nov. 4, 1970: Russell W. Mulder
The Sheboygan Press, May 25, 1971: Random Lake GI Medic Honored Posthumously
The Sheboygan Press, May 27, 1982: Adell Legion Taking Name of Deceased Vietnam Vet
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund—The Wall of Faces: Russell Wesley Mulder
HonorStates.org: Russell Wesley Mulder
Burial Site: Find a Grave

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