The Wall › Panel 39W › North Carolina › Michael Eugene Ritch
MICHAEL EUGENE RITCH
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
August 3, 1948 – November 3, 1968
Service recordMichael Eugene Ritch, of Gastonia, North Carolina, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on November 3, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 39W, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39W · Line 13
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
- Combat Engineer (1371)
- Born
- August 3, 1948
- Home of record
- Gastonia, North Carolina (Gaston County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 3, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
20 names on the Wall carry the date November 3, 1968; eight of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In November 1968, 918 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Read the history
Also on Panel 39W, Line 13
- VAN V RIBUCANStaff Sergeant · November 3, 1968
- BRUCE ALLEN ROBINSONPrivate First Class · November 3, 1968
- MATTHEW ALBERT RUDENCorporal · November 3, 1968
- JOHN FRANCIS SCHROMPrivate First Class · November 3, 1968
From Gastonia
- MAUSBY EDWARD HYLEMANSpecialist Four · October 1, 1965
- CARL DUANE PRUITTPrivate First Class · November 4, 1966
- ROBERT STEVEN KEENERPrivate First Class · January 13, 1967
- DONALD TERRY HELTONSpecialist Four · April 3, 1967
- TONY LEE VAN WHITELance Corporal · September 7, 1967
- CARL HORACE WALL JRLance Corporal · October 6, 1967
- MICHAEL YATES KEETERPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- GLENN WILLIAM RAMEYPrivate First Class · February 2, 1968
- ROGER LYNN COUICKPrivate First Class · February 17, 1968
- ROBERT LEE TATECorporal · April 7, 1968
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.