The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter.
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter. Photo: SP4 James B. Egan, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Alan Joseph Hettich.

The Wall › Panel 49E › Kentucky › Alan Joseph Hettich

ALAN JOSEPH HETTICH

Corporal · U.S. Army

October 5, 1946 – April 12, 1968

Service record

Alan Joseph Hettich, of Louisville, Kentucky, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on April 12, 1968, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 49E, Line 32 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 49E · Line 32

Position of Panel 49E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Corporal (CPL)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Medical Specialist (91B)
Unit (as recorded)
25 INF DIV
Born
October 5, 1946
Home of record
Louisville, Kentucky (Jefferson County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 12, 1968
Age
21
Province
Tay Ninh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Burns/Smoke Inhalation

Context · from the records

What was happening

51 names on the Wall carry the date April 12, 1968; 21 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 110 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 49E, Line 32

Same unit, same day

From Louisville

All 178 names from Louisville →

Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.