The Wall › Panel 47E › California › Patrick Martin Derig
PATRICK MARTIN DERIG
Corporal · U.S. Army
November 30, 1947 – March 31, 1968
Service recordPatrick Martin Derig, of Santa Maria, California, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on March 31, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 20
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Heavy Anti-Armor Weapons Infantryman (11H)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- November 30, 1947
- Home of record
- Santa Maria, California (Santa Barbara County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1968; 30 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 47E, Line 20
- DEAN HARRY BURNSPrivate First Class · March 31, 1968
- STEVEN DALE BURTONSergeant · March 31, 1968
- GERALD LOUIS DEROSEPrivate First Class · March 31, 1968
- GEORGE ROBERT DESHURLEYPetty Officer Third Class · March 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LESLIE ARNOLD BALLSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 19
- JERRY LEE PATRICKSpecialist Five · Panel 47E, Line 25
- DON JUNIOR YELVERTONSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 25
- EZEKIEL PAIGESergeant · Panel 47E, Line 26
- DANNY LYNN STEPHENSPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 27
- JAMES OSCAR WESTPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 28
From Santa Maria
- RICHARD DAVID SWAYZEPrivate First Class · March 21, 1966
- THOMAS J ONTIVEROSPrivate First Class · September 28, 1966
- ROBERT BLANCO COWELLPrivate First Class · December 19, 1966
- IRA JAMES SPITTLER IIISpecialist Four · February 5, 1967
- ANTONIO VELASQUEZPrivate First Class · March 24, 1967
- DONALD MARTIN PETERSONSpecialist Four · May 15, 1967
- RICHARD ALLEN GIOVANACCISpecialist Four · July 18, 1967
- ELDON WAYNE WILLINGHAMSpecialist Four · August 25, 1967
- DAVID ALAN SCHULTZSpecialist Four · September 5, 1967
- ALBERT RANDOLPH FOGG IIISpecialist Four · February 6, 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.