The Wall › Panel 43E › North Dakota › David John Latraille
DAVID JOHN LATRAILLE
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
March 30, 1947 – March 6, 1968
Service recordDavid John Latraille, of Grafton, North Dakota, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 6, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 24 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 24
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- March 30, 1947
- Home of record
- Grafton, North Dakota (Walsh County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 6, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
140 names on the Wall carry the date March 6, 1968; 12 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 43E, Line 24
- DAVID GEORGE ANDERSONPrivate First Class · March 6, 1968
- GREGORY P KERNAHAN JRCaptain · March 6, 1968
- EDDIE KITCHEN JRSecond Lieutenant · March 6, 1968
- JOHN ALBERT KOZACHSpecialist Four · March 6, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ALVIN CARRPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 15
- CLINTON R CARPENTER JRSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 16
- MELVIN B FENNPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 18
- JAMES DALE GUFFEYSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 19
- STEPHEN FRANK PALAZZOLAPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 29
- PHILLIP WAYNE PIGFORDSergeant · Panel 43E, Line 30
- GREGORY RANDALL SHAMBAUGHCorporal · Panel 43E, Line 34
- STANLEY ALBERT STYSPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 35
From Grafton
- RICHARD WAYNE ORSUNDSpecialist Four · March 27, 1968
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.