The Wall › Panel 41E › Wisconsin › Laurence John Herfel
LAURENCE JOHN HERFEL
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
October 21, 1948 – February 24, 1968
Service recordLaurence John Herfel, of Madison, Wisconsin, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 24, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · 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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- October 21, 1948
- Home of record
- Madison, Wisconsin (Dane County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 24, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date February 24, 1968; nine of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 41E, Line 14
- LEON ELDRED WATERS JRSpecialist Four · February 24, 1968
- WILLIAM L WATSONStaff Sergeant · February 24, 1968
- MORRIS ALFRED WHITEHEADSergeant · February 24, 1968
- JIMMIE DALE WHITLOCKPrivate First Class · February 24, 1968
From Madison
- ROSCOE AMMERMANStaff Sergeant · October 3, 1965
- JEAN PIERRE DOWLINGLance Corporal · January 29, 1966
- MICHAEL JOSEPH BANOVEZ JRCorporal · July 18, 1966
- WILLY VASCILLE QUASTStaff Sergeant · January 7, 1967
- THOMAS ERWIN MATUSHPrivate First Class · January 12, 1967
- CHARLES JOHN THOMAMajor · January 12, 1967
- LEONARD DEAN THOMPSONSpecialist Four · April 25, 1967
- GORDON WAYNE STOFLETLance Corporal · June 29, 1967
- VERNON GENE STICHSpecialist Four · August 7, 1967
- MARK WILLARD NEUMANNSpecialist Four · August 25, 1967
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.