The Wall › Panel 43W › Minnesota › Merrel Gerald Sarvela
MERREL GERALD SARVELA
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 17, 1948 – September 22, 1968
Service recordMerrel Gerald Sarvela, of Moose Lake, Minnesota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 22, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43W, Line 66 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43W · Line 66
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 First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- March 17, 1948
- Home of record
- Moose Lake, Minnesota (Carlton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 22, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date September 22, 1968; three of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In September 1968, 1,184 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 80 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 43W, Line 66
- SAMUEL ROSAS-SANZPrivate First Class · September 22, 1968
- NATHAN RAY SALESPrivate First Class · September 22, 1968
- JAMES BERNARD SCOTTSpecialist Four · September 22, 1968
- STEVEN GLEN SHIRKSpecialist Four · September 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD P CAPUTOPrivate First Class · Panel 43W, Line 61
- ADOLPH BRINKMAN HAMM JRPrivate First Class · Panel 43W, Line 62
- JAMES RAYMOND HOCKETTFirst Lieutenant · Panel 43W, Line 63
- HENRY RICHARDSON PHILLIPSCaptain · Panel 43W, Line 65
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.