The Wall › Panel 17W › North Carolina › Earl Thomas Sommerhof
EARL THOMAS SOMMERHOF
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
August 25, 1933 – October 1, 1969
Service recordEarl Thomas Sommerhof, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on October 1, 1969, in Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam, at age 36. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 23
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- August 25, 1933
- Home of record
- Fayetteville, North Carolina (Cumberland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 1, 1969
- Age
- 36
- Province
- Chau Doc
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date October 1, 1969; he was the only one lost in Chau Doc Province that day. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 17W, Line 23
- RAYMOND MORGAN KILBYPrivate First Class · October 1, 1969
- CRAIG GORDON KLOTZPrivate First Class · October 1, 1969
- MARK DANIEL MANGINLance Corporal · October 1, 1969
- FREDDY KEITH STALEYPrivate First Class · October 1, 1969
From Fayetteville
- DEMPSEY H WILLIAMS IIIFirst Lieutenant · March 9, 1965
- CHARLIE GRAY LEWISSergeant First Class · May 17, 1967
- WILLIAM HORNERStaff Sergeant · July 10, 1965
- THOMAS CARL BRONSONPrivate First Class · August 31, 1965
- ERNEST HAYWARDMaster Sergeant · October 25, 1965
- WILLIAM ANDERSON SULLIVANSergeant · November 6, 1965
- DAVID JOSEPH UNDERHILLSeaman Apprentice · April 15, 1966
- JACK RAY PRICEPrivate First Class · June 11, 1966
- ALTON BERNARD MUNNPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- RALPH JOSEPH RENOMaster Sergeant · July 3, 1966
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.