The Wall › Panel 46E › California › Richard Edward Heil
RICHARD EDWARD HEIL
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 30, 1947 – March 25, 1968
Service recordRichard Edward Heil, of Lodi, California, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 25, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 46E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46E · Line 17
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- November 30, 1947
- Home of record
- Lodi, California (San Joaquin County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 25, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
64 names on the Wall carry the date March 25, 1968; 15 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 104 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 46E, Line 17
- TRACY WALLACE HARGRAVEPrivate First Class · March 25, 1968
- JOHN DAVID HARPER JRPrivate First Class · March 25, 1968
- JOHN ELLSWORTH HEFTYSergeant · March 25, 1968
- BENNETT JAMES HERRICKSpecialist Four · March 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LEONARD E BORCHARD JRPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 14
- JOHN MICHAEL CASEYCaptain · Panel 46E, Line 14
- LOUIS MAGIN GARCIACorporal · Panel 46E, Line 16
- JOHN DAVID HARPER JRPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 17
- DOWARD LEROY JONES JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 46E, Line 19
- MICHAEL JAMES KELLEYSpecialist Five · Panel 46E, Line 19
- PATRICK C MCILROYPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 21
- DAVID THOMAS ORWIG IIISpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 22
- ROBERT DOUGLAS ROBINSONPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 22
- DONALD HAROLD SCHMIDTSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 23
- GILBERT SERRANOPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 23
- JOHN OTIS SHERRILLSecond Lieutenant · Panel 46E, Line 24
- DENNIS KARL SHOWERSSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 24
- RONALD SOCKEYSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 24
- JOSEPH THOMAS TANGARIEPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 24
- FLOYD NICKOLAS THOMANSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 25
- HERBERT F WELTZ JRSpecialist Five · Panel 46E, Line 25
- BROADUS ALFRED WHITTPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 25
From Lodi
- JAMES J LABARBERPrivate First Class · February 21, 1967
- DENNIS CRAIG WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · March 14, 1967
- WAYNE ROBERT BARTHLance Corporal · April 24, 1967
- JOEL THOMAS WILLISFirst Lieutenant · June 11, 1967
- MARK EDWARD HODELConstructionman · March 31, 1968
- BRENT JOHN BERTSCHSpecialist Five · May 17, 1968
- JOHN EDWARD NORDELL JRSpecialist Four · February 5, 1969
- GARRY LEE KUBLERSpecialist Four · April 18, 1969
- JOHN ELDON LOCKHORST JRCorporal · March 8, 1970
- CURTIS EDWIN STELZERCorporal · June 29, 1970
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.