The Wall › Panel 1W › Illinois › Alan Paul Ahlfield
ALAN PAUL AHLFIELD
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 2, 1953 – September 10, 1972
Service recordAlan Paul Ahlfield, of Pawnee, Illinois, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 10, 1972, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 71 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 71
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- October 2, 1953
- Home of record
- Pawnee, Illinois (Sangamon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 10, 1972
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date September 10, 1972; he was the only one lost in Pleiku Province that day. In September 1972, 36 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
He died in Pleiku Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 71
- DONALD JERRY HANNINGCaptain · September 3, 1972
- DONALD FREDRICK LINDLANDCommander · September 6, 1972
- RONALD FRANK BOEINGWarrant Officer 1 · September 7, 1972
- DONALD ARTHUR GERSTELLieutenant Commander · September 8, 1972
From Pawnee
- THEODORE WILLIAM SANDIDGESpecialist Four · April 3, 1968
- JOHN EUGENE MARTINCorporal · December 5, 1969
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.