The Wall › Panel 57E › Missouri › John Wilbur Grutsch JR
JOHN WILBUR GRUTSCH JR
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
April 21, 1945 – May 9, 1968
Service recordJohn Wilbur Grutsch JR, of Brentwood, Missouri, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 9, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 57E, Line 22 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 57E · Line 22
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
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- April 21, 1945
- Home of record
- Brentwood, Missouri (St Louis County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 9, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
127 names on the Wall carry the date May 9, 1968; 18 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 71 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 57E, Line 22
- ALLEN RICHARD GIBNEYSpecialist Four · May 9, 1968
- EDWARD ANDREW GILLASPYPrivate First Class · May 9, 1968
- DANIEL GEORGE GLADDINGSergeant · May 9, 1968
- JOSEPH GREENESergeant · May 9, 1968
Same unit, same day
- IVAN CLIFFORD BROEFFLECorporal · Panel 57E, Line 15
- JIMMY RAY BROWNCorporal · Panel 57E, Line 15
- RUSSELL WILLIAM JARICKPrivate First Class · Panel 57E, Line 24
- TERRENCE ARTHUR KANDLERCorporal · Panel 57E, Line 25
- JIMMY RAY WHELESSCorporal · Panel 58E, Line 1
From Brentwood
- TOBY ARTHUR THOMASFireman · June 23, 1970
- STEPHEN WAYNE BANCROFTCorporal · July 29, 1970
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.