The Wall › Panel 39W › Michigan › Joel Vruggink
JOEL VRUGGINK
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
October 30, 1946 – November 6, 1968
Service recordJoel Vruggink, of Hudsonville, Michigan, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on November 6, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 39W, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39W · Line 31
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Crewman (11E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- AMERICAL DIV
- Born
- October 30, 1946
- Home of record
- Hudsonville, Michigan (Ottawa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 6, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
31 names on the Wall carry the date November 6, 1968; three of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In November 1968, 918 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 39W, Line 31
- JOHN CHARLES WELLSCorporal · November 6, 1968
- CHARLES LELAND ADKINSPrivate First Class · November 7, 1968
- CHARLES DAVISON BALLOULieutenant Colonel · November 7, 1968
- JOSE DAVID BERMUDEZ JRPrivate First Class · November 7, 1968
From Hudsonville
- GARY WAYNE PEASLEYSpecialist Four · December 27, 1966
- GARY M GRYZENSergeant · December 13, 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.