The Wall › Panel 47E › Michigan › Gary Ardean Ryden
GARY ARDEAN RYDEN
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 31, 1946 – April 3, 1968
Service recordGary Ardean Ryden, of Pontiac, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 3, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 54 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 54
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- March 31, 1946
- Home of record
- Pontiac, Michigan (Oakland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 3, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
65 names on the Wall carry the date April 3, 1968; 15 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 134 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. 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 47E, Line 54
- DOUGLAS CECIL RISTINESpecialist Four · April 3, 1968
- ERVIN LEE RUSHLance Corporal · April 3, 1968
- CHARLES PATRICK SCARANOPrivate First Class · April 3, 1968
- RONALD LEE ZACHSpecialist Four · April 3, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WAYNE BOYDPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 46
- JOHN JAMES BRADYSecond Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 46
- DAVID WAYNE CHAMBERSPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 47
- RAYMOND LAWRENCE DILLONCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 49
- RICHARD L FAHRENBRUCHSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 49
- GEORGE HARVEY GILLIAMPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 50
- JAMES MINTER LANGFORDSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 52
- JAMES MIRACLE JRPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 52
- HAROLD ROGER SMITHPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 55
- DON CARLOS SYKESSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 55
From Pontiac
- WILLIAM EUGENE JACKSONSergeant First Class · February 5, 1964
- THOMAS DANIEL WHITLOCKLieutenant Colonel · November 1, 1964
- HONORIO RAMIREZ JRSergeant · June 23, 1966
- VICTOR RONALD HOYTSergeant · December 27, 1966
- MICHAEL LEE ELMYPrivate First Class · May 9, 1967
- GEORGE RAY FAYFIE EDWARDSSpecialist Five · May 17, 1967
- FREDERICK HUGO LIMINGAPrivate First Class · June 22, 1967
- ANDREAS MCCURRYSpecialist Four · July 4, 1967
- BERNIE LEE TATESpecialist Four · July 12, 1967
- BOBBY DALE STEVENSONPetty Officer First Class · October 8, 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.