The Wall › Panel 15W › Montana › Richard Earl Westfall
RICHARD EARL WESTFALL
Private First Class · U.S. Army
February 4, 1946 – December 17, 1969
Service recordRichard Earl Westfall, of Polson, Montana, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on December 17, 1969, in Binh Thuan Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 15W, Line 68 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 15W · Line 68
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
- Field Artillery Rocket Crewman (13D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 FIELD FORCE
- Born
- February 4, 1946
- Home of record
- Polson, Montana (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 17, 1969
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Binh Thuan
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date December 17, 1969; three of them were lost in Binh Thuan Province. In December 1969, 509 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 FIELD FORCE”, his unit in the record, lost 11 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 15W, Line 68
- WILLIAM ROBERT SPILLERSLieutenant Colonel · December 17, 1969
- WILLARD EARL SPIVEYCorporal · December 17, 1969
- THOMAS T TOMSICSpecialist Four · December 17, 1969
- DEWITT STANLEY VANCECaptain · December 17, 1969
Same unit, same day
- JUAN CARRILLOSpecialist Four · Panel 15W, Line 66
- JOHN JOSEPH GALLAGHERSpecialist Four · Panel 15W, Line 66
From Polson
- GARY JAMES GREINERCorporal · May 13, 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.