RIP Chuck Schantag (UPDATED)
Mary Schantag, from POW Network, notified us last night that her husband, Chuck, died yesterday. We join Mary in her grief. She wrote that their last words to each other were “I love you”.
UPDATE: Memorial service for Charles “Chuck” Patrick Schantag Jr.,age 64 of Branson, MO will be held at 3:00 P.M. Sunday, February 26, 2012 at Greenlawn Funeral Home Branson, MO with Chaplain Mike Jones and Father Philip Conlon officiating. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
He died at 3:28 P.M. Thursday, February 23, 2012.
He was born on November 22, 1947 in Philadelphia, PA the son of Charles Patrick and Louis Schantag. He had been a resident of Branson and Skidmore, MO. He was the Chairman of the P.O.W. Network, a Disabled Vietnam Veteran, USMC Purple Heart recipient. He was also a member of MOPH, DAV, River Rats, Honorary member of MOZARK MOAA, NAM POW’s, USARA and SFA.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Pauline Schantag nee Butkiewicz, Branson, MO. A son, Charles Schantag and his wife Jackie of Clinton, IA., a daughter Miranda Renshaw and her husband Troy of Maryville, MO and Teresa Howard of Skidmore, Mo. Five grandchildren, Molly, Mason, Jackson, Hayden and Toraleigh. Sisters, Marlene Turner and her husband Gary of Solkatna,AK and Dyane Carey and her husband Gorge of Charlotte, NC and a brother, James Schantag of Philadelphia, PA. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Patrick and Louis Schantag. Also, a sister, Louise Schantag
Category: Blue Skies
Good man. Will be missed.
This is sad beyond words.
Wow, horrible to hear. He’ll be missed.
Sad news indeed…my prayers to Mary and family…
Wow, this is so sad. A great man, a great couple dedicated to upholding the honor of the military. My thoughts are with the family.
Rest in peace.
Damn.
He was indeed a good man, doing good work; he will be missed.
May he RIP. Nothing else I can say is really apropos at this time.
Heartbreaking, RIP Chuck and prayers to the family.
I am very saddened to read this news. My prayers go out to Mary and the family at this very diffcult time. The world has definitely lost a wonderful man.
RIP
Condolences to Mary & family.
Great man, doing important work.
Jonn: is there anything we can do for Mary and/or the pownetwork, either now or later?
RIP Chuck. Condolences to the family.
Thoughts and prayers up for the Schantags.
And memo to the fakers–we’ll still be on your ass.
:'( I second Marine’s question, is there ANYTHING we can do?
If there is a medal so deserving for one…
RIP to an honorable man, performing an honorable mission for our country.
RIP.
RIP, Chuck Schantag. Liked you from the moment we spoke with each other way back when. You will be missed, my friend. Condolences from my wife and me for Mary and family. Let us know if you need any thing, Mary. God bless you!
A terrible loss.
Blue skies and steady seas. We’ll see you soon brother.
So many of the phonies that Chuck helped expose were seeking praise and adoration they didn’t earn. Chuck deserves every bit of praise and adoration we can offer, and much much more. RIP to a hero’s hero.
He’s already exposing fakers upon Fiddler’s Green
I know I have a list of people I’m going to kill again once I get to heaven. I’m sure Chuck is busy crossing off names as we speak.
Oh man. I’m so sorry to hear this. Prayers to Mary and the family.
Sorry to hear this, and deepest condolences to the Schantag family.
Shalom, my brother. See you in a while.
RIP
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon him. My sympathies to his family.
RIP Chuck. 🙁
RIP Chuck you will be missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
A great loss to our community. Mary, may you find peace in knowing that we are with you on your journey.
Rest in Peace, Chuck, prayers for your family.
Chuck needs to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumously).
And when he gets to heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell, one more Soldier reporting Sir, I’ve served my time in Hell….
Rest in Peace Chuck….
I didn’t know anything about him personally, but respect the hell out of POW Network.
Never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but I am ever grateful for the work of POW Network. R.I.P. Chuck.
Chuck was REALLY something and we lost a GREAT advocate for Stolen Valor. A GRUFF, “Matter of Fact” Marines, Marine; Chuck told me once (referring to a Phony SEAL that we were talking about) “That I’ve killed more men in Vietnam than he’s F*$KED Women.” I believed him… RIP Warrior…
He will be sorely missed Don that is for sure, will Mary continue the site in his stead or hand it off to someone else?
Godspeed Sir. May the light shine down on those you leave behind, and thoughts and prayers go out to Mary.
They are great people at POW network. Helped me expose our former Supply Sgt. who was pictured wearing 11 decorations he never recieved and claimed SF. My Condolences to Mrs Schantag in her trying times.
To Saint Peter, “Another Marine reporting Sir, I’ve served my time in hell”. Condolences to the family.
Wow, just wow. Chuck, and his wife Mary, did so much more than just give wannabes some just desserts. I had a serious drug problem and, like all junkies, ended up doing some time. My little brother, another vet, had all my stuff while I was in prison. He died and I lost all the meager possessions left from a 3 year heroin run. When I got out and wanted to begin facing up to the wreckage of my past, the VA has programs to live a clean life and work on facing up to and fixing whatever you can. I did not have a clue how to get my paperwork. Through a Google search to validate my service, they (the Schantags) were very kind and helped me get all the records I needed. They knew why I needed the stuff and were very encouraging. 8 years later I am still clean. I do not want a parade for living the way any decent citizen does, but the encouragement was appreciated. I doubt if she remembers (or maybe she does) but it was a huge thing for me back then.
I am not politicizing this memorial but have a small thing to point out. Once I had accrued some clean time and my sincerity was semi-validated, it was the conservative friends who were (and are) the most helpful in me rebuilding and recovering some some sort of a life. I suppose taking full responsibility and making it clear my hitch had nothing to do with my drug use was anathema to the leftie former friends from college. The vast majority of them have moved on. Go figure. Anyhow, Chuck Schantag did so much for this country and may Mary find some solace in that. R.I.P.
Chuck Schantag has done much good work over the years. His void will be hard to fill. Rip Chuck.
Sad day in the fight against Stolen Valor. RIP, Mr. Schantag. It seems that the leaders in the fight against Stolen Valor (Schantag, Jug Burkett, Doug Sterner, to name a few) are Vietnam vets. This is a wake-up call for our generation (Desert Storm/OIF/OEF) to start taking the reins and ensure the fight goes on, regardless of what SCOTUS will say in a couple months.
All honor to Chuck, he will be missed and never forgotten. And my deepest synpathies to Mary.
I understand that the Patriot Guard Riders will post flagline at his memorial tomorrow afternoon. I would encourage Run For the Wall, Rolling Thunder, and other Vets in the area to show up for the service. I know tdhat all of us who canot make it will be there in spirit.
Our children and I thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts. This was a very big shock as he had not been ill. His offical cause of death was cardiac arrest. His loving friends have established a Memorial Fund, through Paypal, at killerbee1122@gmail.com
His service was moving and memorable. WE were honored by the words of those that attended. Those that sang the hymns were truly God’s own angels. The Chaplain and “Father General” were so kind with their words and memories. The Patriot Guard gave him a send off worthy of the wounded warrior he was. He is now, at last, pain free.
Please give us some time – and after we can catch our breath, I hope to continue in his honor (if I can ever find all the passwords and security codes to keep the Network online, updated and bills paid). HINT – make it easy on those of us left behind – give us a clue! Write it down for us. Leave all the accounts, passwords, security codes, in writing someplace. It’s helpful when you password your computer.
He is eligible and will be buried in Arlington at a later date (2013).
God Bless you all.
Through the tears,
Mary
BTW – the obit was screwed up. It’s …… daughter Miranda Schantag and her husband Ryan, of Davenport, IA and Stepdaughters Jenny Renshaw, her husband Troy of Maryville, MO……
Mrs. Schantag: my condolences on your loss. Your husband was indeed a good man, doing needed work on the behalf of his fellow Veterans.
Would it be permissible to ask you to post details regarding the interment at Arlington as they become available, or send that info to Jonn and let him post it here? Some of us may wish to attend and be able to do so – with your family’s permission, of course.
Hondo, I’ve already asked to be notified of the service at Arlington, and Mary tells me that she will notify me. She also said it will probably be in the summer.
Indeed – there are many who would be able to attend.
Our prayers continue.
While service to your country is respectable and commendable, being nothing but a two-bit cyber-bully until your dying day is not.
Service to one’s country 4 decades ago does not give license to become some self-proclaimed “phoney-veteran exposer”, unilaterally posting folks’ personal info with oft-times-than-not, little to no real evidence or adjudication. A mere anonymous email was seemingly enough for the “POWnetwork” to slander someone on their site.
I’m a veteran myself, and when I called his so-called organization (POWnetwork) about a close personal friend who had his private info wrongly plastered as a “phoney” on Mr. Schantag’s “website”, I wasn’t even given the time of day. Literally. I was hung up on before I could get the words, “I’m a veteran myself…” out of my mouth. Despicable. And just went to show their so-called “POWnetwork” phonies-brigade was only about one thing: Themselves.
Is this how a so-called champion of American Veterans treats his fellow veterans? By hanging up and not even listening to what they have to say? Outrageous and unforgivable. Totally at odds with everything they claimed to represent.
You were nothing but a cyber-bully Chuck. A pathetic, scummy, and dishonorable way to live out your life; with the only true “purpose” of harassing other people just to build yourself up and feel better about yourself. It was all ego.
So no sympathy from me. Sorry, a few years of military service doesn’t give someone a lifetime pass to bully people and not even have an open ear to a fellow veteran in doing so.
YOU were the fraud and the phoney Chuck. Goodbye.
We all know “that guy”. That guy that we used to work with, lived down the street, a friends uncle or brother that always had some crazy stories about his service in “The War”. He was always quick to say that he couldn’t really talk about it because it was classified but was almost quicker to tell war stories. A lot of these guys were close and personal friends that always seemed on the up and up. I’ve known many and also gone to bat for a few of them when someone else would question their stories. I understand you may feel that your “close personal friend” was wrongly outed on Pow network. I also noticed you posting anonymously and not giving any information about your friend that could help prove your statement. I’ve seen the emails that come in. I’ve seen the requests for records. Simply put if your personal friend is on their site, then their records indicate that they are lying. You say that Pop hung up on you before you could even say that you were a veteran. How exactly did you start the call? Did you immediately launch into a tirade of accusations? Were you being rude? You say that being hung up on is no way to treat a veteran, but did Pop even know you were a veteran? No. You said it yourself. The call was terminated before you could say it. You were so insulted by that treatment of.a.veteran that you felt the need to slander a man in the midst of his greiving friends and family anonymously on the internet?
My father was many things, but a phony without honor is not one of them. If you truly feel the need to vent and spout off, who am I to tell you not to. But it I will say this, this is not the place for it. You mention honor, though if you understood what that was you wouldn’t have made your comments here, in this forum, on this posting.
Re entry #48 from “veteran”
Given the circumstances, I believe that most people will find your comments in extremely poor
taste. The Shantags’ great personal lose shouldn’t be aggravated by by your spewing venom on
this forum. If you actually are a veteran, your behavior is shameful…if you aren’t, your
opinion is of no interest to those of us who are.