The Wall › Panel 29W › Delaware › James Lawrence Ripanti
JAMES LAWRENCE RIPANTI
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
July 11, 1947 – March 14, 1969
Service recordJames Lawrence Ripanti, of Wilmington, Delaware, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 14, 1969, in Laos, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 29W, Line 40 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29W · Line 40
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- July 11, 1947
- Home of record
- Wilmington, Delaware (New Castle County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 14, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date March 14, 1969. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 20 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 29W, Line 40
- VERN ERNEST ROOTPrivate First Class · March 14, 1969
- ANTONIO ELIZONDO RUIZPrivate First Class · March 14, 1969
- ELBERT JAMES SAULSSergeant First Class · March 14, 1969
- RICHARD WILLIAM SMITHPrivate First Class · March 14, 1969
From Wilmington
- WILBERT RUDOLPH BUTLERPrivate First Class · February 7, 1966
- FREDERICK E SMITHPrivate First Class · February 26, 1966
- EDMUND LAWRENCE SUDLERSpecialist Four · March 23, 1966
- JAMES VOELKEL DONNELLYSpecialist Four · March 25, 1966
- CHARLES EDWARD PORTERSergeant · April 8, 1966
- ROBERT NIELSEN TAMSPrivate First Class · May 10, 1966
- ROBERT MICHAEL BOWMANPrivate First Class · June 29, 1966
- JAMES JOSEPH CONNELLLieutenant Commander · July 15, 1966
- WOLFRAM WALTHER BISCHOFSergeant First Class · February 13, 1967
- LOUIS ANTHONY LEATHERBURYPrivate · March 24, 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.
