Ronald Shalom Amdur was born on August 29, 1945, in Minneapolis, Minnesota and made aliyah in April 1964. He studied history, in particular history of Israel, and Jewish studies at the Hebrew University before being inducted in the IDF in November 1968. He served as a communications expert in the tank corps, serving most of his required service in Sinai in the vicinity of the Suez Canal. After his release from required service he set up and directed a public library at the Eshkol Community Center in Afula.
In the Yom Kippur War Shalom was assigned to an armaments unit in Sinai. On October 18, 1973 he volunteered to accompany a group repairing damaged tanks near the canal when he suffered fatal wounds in a shelling attack. He is buried at Har Herzl. He was survived by his wife and a daughter, who was born after his death.