The Wall › Panel 2W › South Dakota › Howard Elmer Drain
HOWARD ELMER DRAIN
Private First Class · U.S. Army
September 7, 1952 – March 17, 1972
Service recordHoward Elmer Drain, of Custer, South Dakota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 17, 1972, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 115 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2W · Line 115
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- September 7, 1952
- Home of record
- Custer, South Dakota (Custer County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 17, 1972
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
12 names on the Wall carry the date March 17, 1972; 12 of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In March 1972, 69 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 2W, Line 115
- GEORGE WOLFGANG SEVIGNYPrivate First Class · March 16, 1972
- RICHARD ANTHONY CROCKERSpecialist Four · March 17, 1972
- DONEL JOE DOBBSFirst Lieutenant · March 17, 1972
- TURNER COLEMAN JOHNSONSergeant First Class · March 17, 1972
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD ANTHONY CROCKERSpecialist Four · Panel 2W, Line 115
- DONEL JOE DOBBSFirst Lieutenant · Panel 2W, Line 115
- TURNER COLEMAN JOHNSONSergeant First Class · Panel 2W, Line 115
- JOHN JAMES MOYNAHANSpecialist Four · Panel 2W, Line 116
- CHARLES HOWARD SCHELLINGSpecialist Four · Panel 2W, Line 116
- COLUMBUS WATSON JRPrivate First Class · Panel 2W, Line 117
- JAMES CALVIN WILLIAMSONFirst Lieutenant · Panel 2W, Line 117
- THURMAN WOODY JRSergeant · Panel 2W, Line 117
From Custer
- JAMES PAIGE WRIGHTFirst Lieutenant · June 26, 1964
- STEVEN ALLEN TRANTSpecialist Five · July 21, 1972
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.