The Wall › Panel 41E › Tennessee › John Richard Ruggles III
JOHN RICHARD RUGGLES III
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
October 23, 1944 – February 28, 1968
Service recordJohn Richard Ruggles III, of Knoxville, Tennessee, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 28, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 72 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 72
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Second Lieutenant (2NDLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Officer (I) (0302)
- Born
- October 23, 1944
- Home of record
- Knoxville, Tennessee (Knox County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
91 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1968; seven of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 41E, Line 72
- WINFIELD WALTER REIDSpecialist Four · February 28, 1968
- FRANK SARDINASpecialist Four · February 28, 1968
- JAMES SCUITIERPrivate First Class · February 28, 1968
- ROBERT LEE SEVELLCaptain · February 28, 1968
From Knoxville
- GARY D SMITHPrivate First Class · November 17, 1965
- WAYNE THOMAS LONGPrivate · December 27, 1965
- RAYMOND LEE HILLSergeant · January 30, 1966
- TOMMY EDWARD HILLPetty Officer Second Class · February 14, 1966
- HUGH ALLEN LOVEPrivate First Class · February 17, 1966
- JAMES ROBERT MCLEMOREPrivate First Class · February 28, 1966
- DONALD RICHARD LUMLEYSecond Lieutenant · March 4, 1966
- JESSE J COFFEYSergeant · April 1, 1966
- CHARLES WILLIAM WOOLIVERLance Corporal · May 4, 1966
- JOHN HENRY MORGANPrivate First Class · May 26, 1966
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.