The Wall › Panel 40E › Arizona › Richard Aguirre Contreras
RICHARD AGUIRRE CONTRERAS
Private First Class · U.S. Army
August 25, 1948 – February 22, 1968
Service recordRichard Aguirre Contreras, of Hayden, Arizona, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 22, 1968, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 60 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 60
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- August 25, 1948
- Home of record
- Hayden, Arizona (Gila County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 22, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 22, 1968; two of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 168 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Tín 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 40E, Line 60
- THEODORE COAXUMSergeant · February 22, 1968
- JAMES STEPHEN COMBSSpecialist Four · February 22, 1968
- HOWARD MAX COXLance Corporal · February 22, 1968
- LARRY CHARLES COXAirman First Class · February 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WARREN RICHARD BROWNSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 58
- RANDALL ALLEN HENZEPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 63
- WILLIE JACKSONPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 64
- JOHN ROBERT LAWRENCEFirst Lieutenant · Panel 40E, Line 65
- LARRY DEAN POWELLSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 67
- LEE G TOLLEYPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 69
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.