The Wall › Panel 32W › Virginia › Fred Lafay Pettigrew III
FRED LAFAY PETTIGREW III
Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
August 5, 1947 – February 11, 1969
Service recordFred Lafay Pettigrew III, of Smithfield, Virginia, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 11, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 32W, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32W · Line 15
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- August 5, 1947
- Home of record
- Smithfield, Virginia (Isle Of Wight County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 11, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date February 11, 1969; five 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 15
- MICHAEL JOHN MCGLOTHLINPrivate First Class · February 11, 1969
- JAMES EVERETT MCKEESergeant First Class · February 11, 1969
- ALLEN DONALD MULLERCorporal · February 11, 1969
- VICTOR CHARLES NAVONE JRSpecialist Four · February 11, 1969
From Smithfield
- JAMES EARNEST BATTENPrivate First Class · August 1, 1967
- ARTHUR ISIAH THOMASCorporal · November 1, 1967
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.