The Wall › Panel 32W › Kentucky › Dickie Gayle Keeler
DICKIE GAYLE KEELER
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
July 15, 1948 – February 17, 1969
Service recordDickie Gayle Keeler, of Dexter, Kentucky, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 17, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 32W, Line 49 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32W · Line 49
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Machinegunner (0331)
- Born
- July 15, 1948
- Home of record
- Dexter, Kentucky (Calloway County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 17, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
23 names on the Wall carry the date February 17, 1969; 12 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive 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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 32W, Line 49
- HAROLD HERBERT HLADIKSpecialist Four · February 17, 1969
- DENNIS JAMES KANELance Corporal · February 17, 1969
- DONALD LEE KUJAWACorporal · February 17, 1969
- RICHARD MARVIN KULAVIKSergeant First Class · February 17, 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.