The Wall › Panel 56W › South Carolina › Joseph Walter Rich
JOSEPH WALTER RICH
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
July 14, 1942 – June 17, 1968
Service recordJoseph Walter Rich, of West Columbia, South Carolina, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on June 17, 1968, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 56W, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 56W · Line 14
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- July 14, 1942
- Home of record
- West Columbia, South Carolina (Lexington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 17, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Dinh Tuong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
28 names on the Wall carry the date June 17, 1968; two of them were lost in Định Tường Province. In June 1968, 1,257 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 10 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 56W, Line 14
- LUIS GARCIA GONZALES JRCorporal · June 17, 1968
- RONALD JAY LOCKHARTPrivate · June 17, 1968
- RICHARD RAY MACHUTCorporal · June 17, 1968
- VERNELL OWENSPrivate First Class · June 17, 1968
From West Columbia
- WILLIAM EDWARD TEERLance Corporal · September 13, 1966
- MERLE BRUCE MORROWLance Corporal · November 27, 1967
- JOE THOMAS SHUMPERTSpecialist Five · December 25, 1967
- BRADY WILLIAM HERRINGSpecialist Four · September 16, 1968
- CARL LEWIS HOLDERPrivate First Class · January 3, 1969
- GERALD RALPH PUGHCorporal · July 5, 1969
- RICHARD ATWOOD SNOWDONFirst Lieutenant · September 17, 1969
- RICHARD LEE SMITHMaster Sergeant · July 5, 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.