The Wall › Panel 70W › Minnesota › Gerrit Lynn Blanksma
GERRIT LYNN BLANKSMA
Private First Class · U.S. Army
June 13, 1946 – May 25, 1968
Service recordGerrit Lynn Blanksma, of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on May 25, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 70W, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 70W · Line 1
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- June 13, 1946
- Home of record
- Pequot Lakes, Minnesota (Crow Wing County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 25, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
89 names on the Wall carry the date May 25, 1968; 26 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 160 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 70W, Line 1
- JOHN HARRISON ANDERSON JRPrivate First Class · May 25, 1968
- EARL EDWARD BARNHART JRPrivate First Class · May 25, 1968
- JAMES EDWARD BATESPrivate First Class · May 25, 1968
- TED OLAND BRAZZEALPrivate First Class · May 25, 1968
From Pequot Lakes
- EARL LEE DERBYSergeant · April 17, 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.