The Wall › Panel 50E › Michigan › Gary Paul Meringa
GARY PAUL MERINGA
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 19, 1948 – April 16, 1968
Service recordGary Paul Meringa, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 16, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 50E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 50E · Line 18
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- January 19, 1948
- Home of record
- Grand Rapids, Michigan (Kent County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 16, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
74 names on the Wall carry the date April 16, 1968; five of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 189 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 50E, Line 18
- MAURO MARTINEZPrivate First Class · April 16, 1968
- WILLIAM CORREIA MEDEIROSLance Corporal · April 16, 1968
- JOE ROGER MELCZEKLance Corporal · April 16, 1968
- HERVE JEAN MOISEPrivate First Class · April 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- REGINALD CONRAD BELLSpecialist Four · Panel 50E, Line 11
- STEPHEN ERIC SEIFERTHPrivate First Class · Panel 50E, Line 21
- SAMMY RAY SMITHSergeant · Panel 50E, Line 22
- NORMAN WESLEY TARPLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 50E, Line 23
- LARRY DEAN WARRENPrivate First Class · Panel 50E, Line 23
From Grand Rapids
- MILLARD RUSSELL VALERIUSCaptain · May 28, 1965
- ROBERT JEROME MORONEYCaptain · December 14, 1965
- HERMAN LEROY HUEYSergeant · February 7, 1966
- DONALD BRUCE ADAMSONSecond Lieutenant · February 23, 1966
- JERRY EMMET PARKSPrivate First Class · March 5, 1966
- DAVID ORIN BAILEYPrivate First Class · April 8, 1966
- GARY SCOTT FERGUSONPrivate First Class · August 3, 1966
- DAVID LAWRENCE FAUGHTPrivate First Class · August 10, 1966
- EVERETTE ARTHUR THOMPSONPrivate First Class · August 10, 1966
- MATTHEW GEORGE MIEDEMAPrivate First Class · August 25, 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.