Major Douglas E. Foster

Major Douglas E. Foster, USA, Retired Army Ranger, 84, of Allentown, PA, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving family, on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. He and his wife, Jennifer Marx, celebrated 34 years of marriage on November 16. Born in Gainesville, GA, he was the son of the late Roy C. and Fannie (Sims) Foster. Douglas was an US Army Veteran of 24 years. He enlisted in the Army in 1958. Doug served two tours during the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, Vietnam Service with 6 Bronze Stars, RVN Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star, RVN Gallantry Cross with Palm, Two Purple Hearts along with other awards. Commissioned thru OCS, he graduated as the Distinguished/Honor Graduate in 1965.  Additional tours of duty included:  Fort Riley, Kansas; Baumholder, Germany; Ranger School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Shafter, Hawaii; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Lee, Virginia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  He retired as a Major in 1982. His loyalty and love of country was evident to all who met him and had the privilege of serving under his command. He was a member of the VFW Post 7293 in Whitehall, and President of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the 4th Infantry Division. He loved getting together with his men and their families of the 3rd of the 12th D Company with whom he served with in Vietnam in 1968 and the men from his OCS class. Douglas earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa, Class of 1971. After he retired, he became the Executive Director of the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, and worked tirelessly to assist veterans return to the workforce by organizing small business conferences for veterans and encouraging successful veterans to volunteer their time by providing small business opportunities for them.  For this work, he was awarded the 1988 Small Business Administration’s Veterans Advocate award by President George H.W. Bush at the White House.  

Survivors: Wife, Jennifer; Daughter, Shea E. Bennett and her husband, L.J.; Son, Scott D. Foster and his wife, Corinne; Daughter-In-Law, Jacqueline Costanzo and her husband Dominic and his beloved Granddaughters, Malia and Brooke Bennett, and Violet Foster. He was preceded in death by his siblings, Roy, Louise, Frances, Darrell and Ralph. All four of his brothers made careers in the US Army and combined, served in the Army for 88 years.

Services: Memorial, 11 a.m. Friday, March 14, 2025, at Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith Funeral Home, 17th & Hamilton Streets, Allentown. A visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday in the funeral home. Interment with Military Honors to follow at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery at 2 p.m. You may view the memorial service live or recorded by searching Douglas Foster Funeral Service on YouTube.

Contributions: In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to Tunnel to Towers at https://t2t.org or Folds of Honor at https://foldsofhonor.org.

Memorial Park Riverside Chapel