The Wall › Panel 42E › Missouri › Earl Frederick Fitch
EARL FREDERICK FITCH
Corporal · U.S. Army
July 8, 1948 – March 2, 1968
Service recordEarl Frederick Fitch, of St Louis, Missouri, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on March 2, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 31
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Tactical Wire Operations Specialist (36K)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- July 8, 1948
- Home of record
- St Louis, Missouri (St Louis (City) County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 2, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
100 names on the Wall carry the date March 2, 1968; ten 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 Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle 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 42E, Line 31
- MICHAEL ARTHUR EVENSONSeaman · March 2, 1968
- GARY VIRGIL FRAZIERPrivate First Class · March 2, 1968
- REX BRADFORD FREEMANStaff Sergeant · March 2, 1968
- MICHAEL DENNIS FROSTPrivate First Class · March 2, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CARL VAL ANDREStaff Sergeant · Panel 42E, Line 27
- FLOYD HEGLER JRSergeant First Class · Panel 42E, Line 33
- WILLIE LEE MCGAUGHEYPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 37
- PETER SIMMONS REINHARTCaptain · Panel 42E, Line 39
- MARK EDWARD SMITHSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 41
From St Louis
- EDDIE LOUIS SMITHStaff Sergeant · October 4, 1964
- GERALD ROBERT KEENEYSpecialist Five · December 28, 1964
- HAROLD DALE MEYERKORDLieutenant · March 16, 1965
- GEORGE CRAIG SMITHMajor · April 3, 1965
- TERRY WAYNE MILLSSpecialist Four · April 19, 1965
- DONNIE D EZELLStaff Sergeant · April 24, 1965
- RONALD JOHN WARRENStaff Sergeant · May 28, 1965
- DALE LEROY TOOLOOSEWarrant Officer 1 · September 2, 1965
- JOSEPH L TSCHAMBERSPrivate First Class · September 2, 1965
- ANTHONY ROY HARDIESpecialist Four · October 28, 1965
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.