The Wall › Panel 37E › Texas › David Lee Rickels
DAVID LEE RICKELS
Private First Class · U.S. Army
April 19, 1947 – February 3, 1968
Service recordDavid Lee Rickels, of Breckenridge, Texas, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 3, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 13
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- April 19, 1947
- Home of record
- Breckenridge, Texas (Stephens County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 3, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 3, 1968; five of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 140 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum 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 37E, Line 13
- JIMMY KARON ROBERTSONPrivate First Class · February 3, 1968
- ZACK OSCAR ROWLANDPrivate First Class · February 3, 1968
- HOWARD SADLER JRCorporal · February 3, 1968
- JOSEPH SANTOSSpecialist Four · February 3, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RUSSELL DAVID BRYANT JRPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 4
- ORRIN LEONARD DYER JRChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 37E, Line 6
- LEON HAMNERSpecialist Four · Panel 37E, Line 8
- JOSEPH SANTOSSpecialist Four · Panel 37E, Line 13
From Breckenridge
- PERCY WRAY HOWELLLieutenant Colonel · June 18, 1963
- MICHAEL DEAN HALFORDSecond Lieutenant · June 5, 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.