Michael Allen Schroeder

Michael Allan Schroeder was raised in Mason City and was a member of Saint James Lutheran Church. He was a graduate of Mason City High School in the class of 1966 and attended North Iowa Are Community College. Schroeder played rock music with fellow classmates as a teenager. He entered into the Army in May 1968 and deployed to Vietnam in March 1969. PFC Schroeder was assigned to a 4th Infantry Division field artillery unit stationed at Landing Zone Oasis near Pleiku City. On the night of May 11, 1969 PFC Schroeder died while sleeping in his bunk. The sand-bagged tent took a direct hit from an enemy mortar round and killed Schroeder instantly. Several other soldiers received shrapnel wounds from the blast. His body was returned to Mason City and buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery.