The Wall › Panel 41E › New York › Richard Dennis Welch
RICHARD DENNIS WELCH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 21, 1947 – February 27, 1968
Service recordRichard Dennis Welch, of Niagara Falls, New York, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 27, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 57 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 57
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- October 21, 1947
- Home of record
- Niagara Falls, New York (Niagara County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 27, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
56 names on the Wall carry the date February 27, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 125 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 41E, Line 57
- CHARLES EDWARD WILLIAMSSergeant · February 27, 1968
- THOMAS CLAY WRIGHTSpecialist Five · February 27, 1968
- THOMAS THAWSON WRIGHTColonel · February 27, 1968
- JAMES DOMINIO YOUNGHAMCorporal · February 27, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES HUBERT STANLEYFirst Lieutenant · Panel 41E, Line 50
From Niagara Falls
- GILBERT MICHAEL NICKLASPrivate First Class · November 14, 1965
- RONALD TERRANCE TERRYStaff Sergeant · January 29, 1966
- GARY LLOYD HENDERSONCorporal · March 9, 1966
- CHARLES CLINTON CURTIS JRPrivate First Class · January 26, 1967
- DANIEL JAMES NEWMAN JRCorporal · March 21, 1967
- JOHN PAUL BOBOSecond Lieutenant · March 30, 1967
- WALTER JAMES PTASNICKCorporal · April 15, 1967
- DAVID FRITZ BITTENBENDERCaptain · July 7, 1967
- THOMAS WALTER SITEKLieutenant Commander · August 23, 1967
- ROBERT TAYLORLance Corporal · September 27, 1967
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.