The Wall › Panel 36E › North Dakota › Richard Dale Hovland
RICHARD DALE HOVLAND
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 12, 1946 – January 31, 1968
Service recordRichard Dale Hovland, of Williston, North Dakota, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Phong Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 16 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 16
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
- Clerk-Typist (71B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- HHC 69 ENG BN 34 ENG GRP
- Born
- August 12, 1946
- Home of record
- Williston, North Dakota (Williams County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Phong Dinh
- 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; five of them were lost in Phong Dinh Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Phong Dinh 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 16
- GORDON WOOD HOOVERGunnery Sergeant · January 31, 1968
- KENNETH EUGENE HOTCHKISSPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- HENRY GRANT HOWCOTTMajor · January 31, 1968
- ROY HUDSONLance Corporal · January 31, 1968
From Williston
- RICHARD DENZIL GILL JRSpecialist Four · July 21, 1966
- KENYON ELROY BEANPrivate First Class · May 19, 1967
- ROBERT JOHN HIMLERCaptain · August 24, 1968
- RANDY LEE HANSENSpecialist Four · April 6, 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.