The Wall › Panel 36E › Puerto Rico › Pilar Rafael A Ruiz-Del
PILAR RAFAEL A RUIZ-DEL
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
January 13, 1935 – January 31, 1968
Service recordPilar Rafael A Ruiz-Del, of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Binh Thuy Province, South Vietnam, at age 33. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 33
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- C CO 52 INF 716 MP BN 18 MP BDE
- Born
- January 13, 1935
- Home of record
- Quebradillas, Puerto Rico (Quebradillas County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 33
- Province
- Binh Thuy
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; he was the only one lost in Binh Thuy Province that day. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Binh Thuy 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 36E, Line 33
- ARTHUR JAMES ROBERTS JRPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- DAVID OWEN ROBERTSSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- RONNIE RAY ROUSHSergeant First Class · January 31, 1968
- CLIFTON DOUGLAS ROYCorporal · January 31, 1968
- WILLIAM MICHAEL SEBASTCorporal · January 31, 1968
From Quebradillas
- RICHARD ISMAEL BERMEJOPrivate First Class · February 28, 1967
- JUAN RAMON PEREZ-PADINLance Corporal · August 26, 1969
- LUIS JOSE MONROIGFirst Lieutenant · July 22, 1971
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.