When then-Maj. Ralph H. Angstadt was declared missing in action during the Vietnam War, the news devastated his family in Berks County.
Angstadt, who grew up on Water Street in the village of Oley, was serving as an Air Force rescue commander and pilot when he and six rescue mission crew members went missing over the Gulf of Tonkin on Oct. 18, 1966.
He was later promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Sandra Levan, just 10 at the time, can still remember the day her father, Melvin Angstadt, received the news that his brother was missing and how sadness settled over the family.
Dianne Simmons leads a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
“It was a very somber time,” she said Saturday following the dedication of a memorial to Angstadt at Friedens Cemetery in Oley.
Levan joined members of the extended Angstadt family and about 40 others in the adjacent Friedens UCC Church Weidner Fellowship Hall for the service.
Organized by the cemetery committee, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 131 and Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Forget-Me-Nots, Berks County chapter, the ceremony also honored the service of Levan’s father, a Marine veteran of the Korean War who died in 2025, and another uncle, Leon Angstadt, an Army veteran of World War II who died in 1996.
State Rep. David Maloney Sr. greets Janet Angstadt Clauser and her husband Curtis during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The new plaque memorializing Ralph Angstadt rests in the family plot beside the grave markers of his two brothers.
Devotion to duty
Dianne Simmons of the Forget-Me-Nots provided an overview of the Angstadt brothers’ roots in the Oley Valley and their service.
“As the boys grew, a remarkable pattern emerged: one of profound duty,” Simmons said. “The Angstadt brothers became a symbol of American sacrifice, three brothers, three different wars and three military branches.”
Other speakers included the brothers’ only surviving sibling, Janet Clauser; Sen. Judy Schwank and Rep. David Maloney Sr., who each presented proclamations; and Doug Didyoung Sr.; a Vietnam veteran and cofounder of the Forget-Me-Nots.
Janet Angstadt Clouser, sister of Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt who is Missing in Action in Vietnam, prays during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
For many years, Clauser held out hope that Ralph had somehow survived as a prisoner of war.
“Until I know what happened to my brother,” she often says, “I will not give up hope.”
She keeps this memory fresh in her Lower Alsace Township home, where photographs of Ralph, his wife and three daughters and memorabilia from his 16-year Air Force career are displayed.
“I appreciate everyone here today,” she said. “Thank you so much for caring.”
Simmons said the community joins Clauser in celebrating the memory of her brother and his sacrifice.
“He will always have a place here in Oley, in the family plot and in the hearts of the people who live just down the road from where his journey began,” Simmons said.
Dianne Simmons leads a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Legacy endures
Her words rang true for some of the younger members of the extended family, who still live in the area.
Clauser’s granddaughter Vickie Bond remembers how as an Oley Valley High School student in the early 2000s, she was a bit surprised when her history teacher asked the class to write a report on Ralph Angstadt.
“I raised my hand, and I said ‘That’s my great-uncle that you are talking about,”” the Oley Township resident recalled.
A memorial was dedicated to Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam, during a service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
She and her husband, Chris, made certain their son Jesse, 10, knew about the Angstadt brothers’ record of service. He also learned a lot from his great-grandmother.
“When you walk in, there are a bunch of pictures of Ralph and all her brothers in the hallway,” he said of Clauser’s home.
Levan, too, taught her children and grandchildren about their family’s legacy of service.
Her granddaughter Taylor Gaugler, a ninth-grader at Oley Valley, accompanied her to the service.
Levan said Taylor spent years listening to family stories about the Angstadt brothers.
Gaugler, 15, said her great-great-uncle is still very much remembered and revered in the Oley community. So much so that she, too, has shared stories with her teachers and classmates.
Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
“I think it is a super cool thing to say ‘I have a family member who served in the Vietnam War and went MIA,’” she said. “Not that it’s cool he went missing.”
Gaugler, who is planning for a career in crime investigation or homeland security, said she is fascinated by the mystery of what happened to her great-great-uncle.
It’s a mystery that may never be solved, Didyoung said, describing the frustration of years of lobbying government officials for answers that never came.
“We have faith that wherever he is, whatever’s going on, the good Lord knows,” Didyoung said.
Though Angstadt’s fate remains uncertain, those gathered Saturday made clear that his place in the Oley community has never been lost.
Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Janet Angstadt Clouser speaks during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. Standing with her is her husband Curtis. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Dianne Simmons leads a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Janet Angstadt Clouser, sister of Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt who is Missing in Action in Vietnam, prays during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
State Rep. David Maloney Sr. greets Janet Angstadt Clauser and her husband Curtis during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
State Sen. Judy Schwank speaks during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Dianne Simmons leads a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Nadine Duggan Venzke, sister of Col. Thomas Duggan who was Missing in Action in Vietnam in 1968, greets Janet Angstadt Clouser during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Doug Didyoung Sr., Vietnam veteran and pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Reading, speaks during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
State Rep. David Maloney Sr. speaks during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
State Sen. Judy Schwank greets Janet Angstadt Clauser during a memorial dedication service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley for Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
A memorial honoring veteran brothers Leon Melvin and Ralph Angstadt was dedicated at Friedens UCC in Oley on Saturday, May 9, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
A memorial was dedicated to Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt, who is Missing in Action in Vietnam, during a service on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Friedens UCC in Oley. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
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Lt. Col. Ralph H. Angstadt is Missing in Action in Vietnam. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)