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Military service and post-war positions

United States Army portrait of Sergeant Schulz, c. 1943

In February 1943, Schulz's mother Dena died after a long illness. At the time of her death, he had only recently been made aware that she suffered from cancer. Schulz had by all accounts been very close to his mother and her death had a significant effect on him.[11]

Around the same time, Schulz was drafted into the United States Army. He served as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe during World War II, as a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team. His unit saw combat only at the very end of the war. Schulz said he had only one opportunity to fire his machine gun but forgot to load it, and that the German soldier he could have fired at willingly surrendered. Years later, Schulz proudly spoke of his wartime service.[12] For being under fire he did receive the Combat Infantry Badge, of which he was very proud.[13]

In late 1945, Schulz returned to Minnesota, where he did lettering for a Roman Catholic comic magazine, Timeless Topix. Before he was drafted, Schulz had taken a correspondence course from the school Art Instruction, Inc.,[14] and in July 1946 took a job at the school, where he reviewed and graded students' work.[15]: 164  He worked at the school for several years as he developed his career as a comic creator.[16]

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