The Wall › Panel 38W › Louisiana › Gerald M Ortego
GERALD M ORTEGO
Warrant Officer 1 · U.S. Army
August 25, 1938 – November 21, 1968
Service recordGerald M Ortego, of Simmesport, Louisiana, served as a Warrant Officer 1 in the U.S. Army. He died on November 21, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 38W, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38W · Line 29
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
- Warrant Officer 1 (WO1)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Helicopter Pilot, Utility And Light Cargo Single Rotor (062B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 198 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- August 25, 1938
- Home of record
- Simmesport, Louisiana
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 21, 1968
- Age
- 30
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date November 21, 1968; ten of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In November 1968, 918 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 198th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 13 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 38W, Line 29
- RICHARD ALLEN NICHOLSSpecialist Four · November 21, 1968
- BILLIE JOE ONTISSpecialist Five · November 21, 1968
- PAUL JOSEPH PAMANETPrivate First Class · November 21, 1968
- CHARLES FREDERICK REINSergeant · November 21, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOE HARRY STANLEYSergeant · Panel 38W, Line 30
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.