The Wall › Panel 23E › Iowa › Ralph Bernard Gerken
RALPH BERNARD GERKEN
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 1, 1947 – July 5, 1967
Service recordRalph Bernard Gerken, of Winthrop, Iowa, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on July 5, 1967, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 23E, Line 11 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 23E · Line 11
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- December 1, 1947
- Home of record
- Winthrop, Iowa (Buchanan County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 5, 1967
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date July 5, 1967; two of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In July 1967, 1,057 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 64 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 23E, Line 11
- CHARLES MANLEY GATTIS JRLance Corporal · July 5, 1967
- JOHN WILLIAM GRANAHANLance Corporal · July 5, 1967
- DONALD E HEINZPrivate First Class · July 5, 1967
- JAMES EDWARD HOEWELERSpecialist Four · July 5, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JAMES RUSSELL ISBELLPrivate First Class · Panel 23E, Line 12
- PAUL GORDON KNIGHTONPrivate First Class · Panel 23E, Line 12
- JAMES ERICH MATTHEWSPrivate First Class · Panel 23E, Line 12
- ROBERT STERLING MUMMERTSpecialist Four · Panel 23E, Line 13
From Winthrop
- FRANK LYNN STATONCorporal · February 27, 1970
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.