Thank You for Making a Difference at UMD

First Lieutenant, USAF, Ronnie G. Lindstrom, UMD class of ’67, served in the Vietnam War. He was attached to the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ubon Air Base, Thailand, at the height of the war in 1969 and 70. He was the Radar Intercept Officer in an F4D Phantom aircraft. His plane was lost during an operational mission near the Sepone River in Savannakhet Province, about 10 miles from the border of South Vietnam, on January 2, 1970 in a mission over Laos.  His body was never recovered.

He almost certainly was killed in the action. However, he is listed as MIA (Missing in Action) on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

Ronnie, in addition to being an outstanding QB on the chem club’s touch football team, was Professor Ron Caple’s very first undergraduate researcher. When he was faced with the draft, he enlisted in the US Air Force officer and flight programs. Upon completion of his training, he was sent to Vietnam and never returned.

This incident was a life moving experience for Dr. Caple and has impacted his professional career as well as his desire to reach out to others in a way that has a meaningful humanitarian impact. Dr. Caple’s research collaborations were primarily in the Soviet Union, and now Russia. They have been extended to Hanoi, Vietnam, Pinar del Rio, Cuba and Baku, Azerbaijan. He has been successful in helping chemistry colleagues in those countries in these endeavors.

As he approaches the end of his career, he wishes to honor his first student by establishing the Ronnie Lindstrom International Student Scholarship fund with the goal of helping students from 3rd world countries, such as Azerbaijan, Cuba, and Vietnam, to pursue an undergraduate degree at UMD. It is his hope that these students will return to their home countries to use their new skills and will make friends for life at UMD.

For more information or to make a gift, please contact Tricia Bunten, 218-726-6995 or tbunten@d.umn.edu.