The Wall › Panel 36E › Illinois › Gary Ray Fitch
GARY RAY FITCH
Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 18, 1943 – February 2, 1968
Service recordGary Ray Fitch, of Bushnell, Illinois, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 2, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 70 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 70
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 (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- May 18, 1943
- Home of record
- Bushnell, Illinois (Mcdonough County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 2, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
130 names on the Wall carry the date February 2, 1968; 17 of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 232 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 36E, Line 70
- QUENTIN WAYNE BINDERSpecialist Four · February 2, 1968
- RICHARD EUGENE ENGLEPrivate First Class · February 2, 1968
- CRISTOBAL FIGUEROA-PEREZCorporal · February 2, 1968
- RUSSELL RAY FLESHERSecond Lieutenant · February 2, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD LEE CULLENFirst Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 68
- DELFERD BENJAMIN DUNIFERSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 69
- RENE ZAROGOZA HERNANDEZCorporal · Panel 36E, Line 74
- HUGH R MCKIBBIN JRFirst Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 79
- CHARLES THOMAS PARKERSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 81
- THOMAS MICHAEL ROSSSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 84
- JAMES DOUGLAS VANHOOKPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 1
From Bushnell
- FRED GORDON BERTOLINOFirst Lieutenant · June 19, 1967
- JOHN ROBERT MAXSONSergeant · June 5, 1969
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.