The Wall › Panel 43E › New York › Ralph Douglas Difate
RALPH DOUGLAS DIFATE
Sergeant · U.S. Army
August 30, 1947 – March 7, 1968
Service recordRalph Douglas Difate, of Bayside, New York, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 7, 1968, in Vinh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 43 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 43
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- August 30, 1947
- Home of record
- Bayside, New York (Queens County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 7, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Vinh Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
55 names on the Wall carry the date March 7, 1968; he was the only one lost in Vinh Long Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 101 of its members that month.
He died in Vinh Long 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 43E, Line 43
- MATHIS DANIELPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- ABRAHAM R DERRYBERRY IIILance Corporal · March 7, 1968
- THOMAS WAYNE FERGUSONPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- RICHARD GINALLance Corporal · March 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- FREDERICK LARRY ALLUMSCorporal · Panel 43E, Line 40
- HAROLD GEORGE BEANE JRPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 40
- RICHARD DUNCAN BAHRFirst Lieutenant · Panel 43E, Line 41
- GERALD KEITH BROWNSergeant · Panel 43E, Line 41
- EDWARD RICHARD CORDEAUSergeant · Panel 43E, Line 42
- KRAIG SEWELL HOGANSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 44
- THEODORE THOMAS LEOPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 46
- BEN MCCOULLOUGH JRPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 47
- JAMES GARY RANDALLPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 48
- DONALD WAYNE TISDALECorporal · Panel 43E, Line 49
- HARRY KENNETH VAUGHANCorporal · Panel 43E, Line 49
- LEWIS BRACY WILSONPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 50
- EUGENE YOUNGPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 50
From Bayside
- RONALD IRWIN KRAUSSAirman Second Class · May 22, 1965
- WALTER JOSEPH BIENKOWSKILance Corporal · September 28, 1965
- JOHN PETER ZIELINSKISpecialist Four · January 29, 1968
- ALBERTO COLONPrivate First Class · February 20, 1968
- ALBERT ALOIS ENGELHARDTCaptain · March 16, 1968
- THOMAS JOSEPH BAYESPrivate First Class · April 7, 1968
- THOMAS JOHN RILEYPrivate First Class · June 11, 1969
- EUGENE PAUL SHUMBRISCaptain · December 9, 1969
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.