The Wall › Panel 16W › Michigan › Gerald Wilbert Durtka
GERALD WILBERT DURTKA
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
May 24, 1941 – October 30, 1969
Service recordGerald Wilbert Durtka, of Wayne, Michigan, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on October 30, 1969, in Quang Duc Province, South Vietnam, at age 28. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 4
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 First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Cannon Crewmember (13B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 FIELD FORCE
- Born
- May 24, 1941
- Home of record
- Wayne, Michigan (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 30, 1969
- Age
- 28
- Province
- Quang Duc
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
21 names on the Wall carry the date October 30, 1969; six of them were lost in Quang Duc Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 FIELD FORCE”, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 16W, Line 4
- ROGER EUGENE CARROLLSpecialist Four · October 30, 1969
- CHARLES CHRISTOPHER CHILDSpecialist Four · October 30, 1969
- THOMAS ELMER CLARKSpecialist Four · October 30, 1969
- ROBERT MILLARD GROSCOSTPrivate First Class · October 30, 1969
Same unit, same day
- JOHN ALBERT WARRENSergeant · Panel 16W, Line 7
From Wayne
- STEVE ORRIS IIIPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- DONALD W VINCENTSpecialist Four · December 9, 1965
- BRUNO LEO MARTINPrivate First Class · June 25, 1966
- CALVIN CARL MORGANSpecialist Four · February 26, 1967
- RONALD WALTER SANDERSPrivate First Class · May 8, 1967
- PETER BODO LEHMANNLance Corporal · June 15, 1967
- EDWARD JAMES BOVACorporal · February 6, 1968
- ALFREDO GUZZOCorporal · June 29, 1968
- GLENN JESSE FORD IIIFirst Lieutenant · January 7, 1969
- FRANK LEPTRONESpecialist Four · January 29, 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.