The Wall › Panel 39E › New York › John Kenneth Ripel
JOHN KENNETH RIPEL
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 12, 1948 – February 16, 1968
Service recordJohn Kenneth Ripel, of Sparrow Bush, New York, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 16, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 65
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- January 12, 1948
- Home of record
- Sparrow Bush, New York (Orange County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 16, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
61 names on the Wall carry the date February 16, 1968; two of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 140 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Nam Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 39E, Line 65
- ROGER DALE PYNEPrivate First Class · February 16, 1968
- CULLEN WOOD QUINCorporal · February 16, 1968
- JOHN HENRY REYNOLDSLance Corporal · February 16, 1968
- RANDALL LEROY SAUNDERSSpecialist Four · February 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM LEONARD GREENWELLPlatoon Sergeant · Panel 39E, Line 60
- BENNIE EUGENE MCCORKLESpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 64
- PEARLY JUNIOR THOMASStaff Sergeant · Panel 39E, Line 67
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.