The Wall › Panel 13E › South Dakota › David Ray Gatton
DAVID RAY GATTON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 30, 1946 – December 29, 1966
Service recordDavid Ray Gatton, of Harrold, South Dakota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on December 29, 1966, in South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 13E, Line 97 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 13E · Line 97
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- November 30, 1946
- Home of record
- Harrold, South Dakota (Hughes County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 29, 1966
- Age
- 20
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
33 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1966. In December 1966, 533 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 56 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 13E, Line 97
- ALEJANDRO GARCIA JRSpecialist Four · December 29, 1966
- TERRY DALE GEMASPrivate First Class · December 29, 1966
- JAMES DAVID GREENSpecialist Four · December 29, 1966
- TERRY SIDNEY GUNNPrivate First Class · December 29, 1966
Same unit, same day
- LEE V BEARDENSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 95
- TERRY SIDNEY GUNNPrivate First Class · Panel 13E, Line 97
- BILLY NEAL HARPERSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 98
From Harrold
- LARRY HULAN BARBEEFirst Lieutenant · June 6, 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.