The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967.
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Michael Lee Darrah.

The Wall › Panel 2W › Nevada › Michael Lee Darrah

MICHAEL LEE DARRAH

Sergeant · U.S. Army

November 17, 1952 – October 13, 1971

Service record

Michael Lee Darrah, of Reno, Nevada, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on October 13, 1971, in Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 2W · Line 38

Position of Panel 2W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
Unit (as recorded)
US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
Born
November 17, 1952
Home of record
Reno, Nevada (Washoe County)

Casualty

Date of death
October 13, 1971
Age
18
Province
Chau Doc
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

Five names on the Wall carry the date October 13, 1971; four of them were lost in Chau Doc Province. In October 1971, 132 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 32 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 2W, Line 38

Same unit, same day

From Reno

All 25 names from Reno →

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.