The Wall › Panel 6E › Iowa › Galen Dean Grethen
GALEN DEAN GRETHEN
Private First Class · U.S. Army
February 17, 1943 – April 16, 1966
Service recordGalen Dean Grethen, of Emmetsburg, Iowa, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 16, 1966, in South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 117 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6E · Line 117
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Medical Equipment Repairer (91A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- February 17, 1943
- Home of record
- Emmetsburg, Iowa (Palo Alto County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 16, 1966
- Age
- 23
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
19 names on the Wall carry the date April 16, 1966. In April 1966, 406 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 6E, Line 117
- TONY HOWARD HUGHESPrivate First Class · April 16, 1966
- JAMES HOWARD KURDELSKILance Corporal · April 16, 1966
- EDGAR BOWIE LUEALLENSergeant · April 16, 1966
- DANA J MICOLAPrivate First Class · April 16, 1966
Same unit, same day
- WALTER MONROE COLLINSPrivate · Panel 6E, Line 116
- EDGAR BOWIE LUEALLENSergeant · Panel 6E, Line 117
From Emmetsburg
- GARY WAYNE WEIRPrivate First Class · October 27, 1968
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.
