The Wall › Panel 15E › South Dakota › David Orson Fjerstad
DAVID ORSON FJERSTAD
Corporal · U.S. Army
March 28, 1947 – February 27, 1967
Service recordDavid Orson Fjerstad, of Aurora, South Dakota, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on February 27, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 15E, Line 104 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 15E · Line 104
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- March 28, 1947
- Home of record
- Aurora, South Dakota (Brookings County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 27, 1967
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
46 names on the Wall carry the date February 27, 1967; eight of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In February 1967, 767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 15E, Line 104
- WILSON LEE COOKSpecialist Four · February 27, 1967
- JESUS ROSAS CRUZLance Corporal · February 27, 1967
- JAMES LEON CUNNINGHAMSpecialist Four · February 27, 1967
- DONALD GARY DETMERPrivate First Class · February 27, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JOHN WILLIAM JACKSONPrivate First Class · Panel 15E, Line 106
- CONRAD FRANCIS STRAUBSpecialist Four · Panel 15E, Line 110
- DONALD THOMAS VANHORNCorporal · Panel 15E, Line 110
- CLARENCE VARNADOStaff Sergeant · Panel 15E, Line 111
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.