The Wall › Panel 36E › California › Larry Eldon Wittler
LARRY ELDON WITTLER
Private · U.S. Army
November 18, 1948 – February 1, 1968
Service recordLarry Eldon Wittler, of Petaluma, California, served as a Private in the U.S. Army. He died on February 1, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 63 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 63
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 (PVT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- November 18, 1948
- Home of record
- Petaluma, California (Sonoma County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 1, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 1, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 36E, Line 63
- WILLIAM FRANK WITEKPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- MATHEW WOLFEPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- ARTHUR GEORGE WILL WOLTERPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- BILLY LEE WRIGHTPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
Same unit, same day
- REX ALLAN BOWYERSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 46
- JOHN THOMAS BROWNPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 46
- TERRENCE R FEIGENBUTZSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 48
- PHILIP MICHAEL GERMAINSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 49
- JAMES EDWARD HAMILTONSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 50
- JOSEPH PHILLIP HOLLANDCaptain · Panel 36E, Line 51
- GENE LUTHER KEAHIPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 53
- NORTON ZIGMUND KINGPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 53
- ALPHONSO S MARTINSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 55
- JAMES ARTHUR MELTON JRCorporal · Panel 36E, Line 56
- EUGENE VERNON WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 62
From Petaluma
- THOMAS JAY OGLETHORPEPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
- CAMERON A RICECorporal · June 19, 1967
- CHARLES PETER TORLIATT JRPrivate First Class · February 9, 1968
- EDSALL A FRICKFirst Lieutenant · November 4, 1968
- JASON DAVID HUNNICUTTPrivate First Class · June 7, 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.