The Wall › Panel 47E › California › Darwin Bruce Ridenhour
DARWIN BRUCE RIDENHOUR
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
February 28, 1947 – April 1, 1968
Service recordDarwin Bruce Ridenhour, of Riverside, California, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on April 1, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 36 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 36
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Construction Equipment Repairer (62B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- February 28, 1947
- Home of record
- Riverside, California (Riverside County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 1, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Vehicle Crash (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
46 names on the Wall carry the date April 1, 1968; five of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 134 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 47E, Line 36
- JAMES HENRY MORGANSpecialist Four · April 1, 1968
- CURTIS ALLEN RHODESCaptain · April 1, 1968
- PETER WILLIAM SHAGOVAC JRPrivate First Class · April 1, 1968
- ANTHONY SIMOESSpecialist Four · April 1, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DAVID CHARLES CARDINALSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 30
- RICHARD LAWRENCE GIAMBRONEFirst Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 32
- ROGER WILLIAM RAIHPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 35
- ANTHONY SIMOESSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 36
- HARRY SHERMAN STAYERSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 37
- RONALD EUGENE WILSONPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 37
From Riverside
- THEODORE BERT PHILLIPSStaff Sergeant · October 24, 1964
- WILLIAM RONALD GRAYSONCommander · April 1, 1966
- FRANK BRENNAN PARISHLance Corporal · June 18, 1966
- BRAD WILLIAM MORANDPrivate First Class · July 12, 1966
- ROBBIN ADAIR GOODWINPrivate First Class · August 3, 1966
- PATRICK LEE WOODLance Corporal · January 11, 1967
- VINCENT JOSEPH BENEGASLance Corporal · April 21, 1967
- RICHARD ELZIE VEACHSpecialist Four · May 28, 1967
- DENNIS EUGENE MONFILSPrivate First Class · June 3, 1967
- HECTOR FUENTESHospitalman · July 2, 1967
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.