The Wall › Panel 29E › New York › Richard Francis Laird
RICHARD FRANCIS LAIRD
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 12, 1946 – November 6, 1967
Service recordRichard Francis Laird, of Alexander, New York, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 6, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 29E, Line 32 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29E · Line 32
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
- Construction Equipment Repairer (62B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- November 12, 1946
- Home of record
- Alexander, New York (Genesee County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 6, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
55 names on the Wall carry the date November 6, 1967; 18 of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 212 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 29E, Line 32
- BRADFORD STANLEY KINGLance Corporal · November 6, 1967
- BRUCE CHARLES LEISINGPrivate First Class · November 6, 1967
- WALTER WAYNE LEWISLance Corporal · November 6, 1967
- WILLIAM ARTHUR MICHAELSpecialist Four · November 6, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JAMES DUDLEY SHAFERSergeant · Panel 29E, Line 26
- ROBERT JOHN BICKELPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 27
- CHARLES GEORGE BOWERSMITHPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 27
- DAVID FRANK BURNEYPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 27
- JOAQUIN PALACIOS CABRERAStaff Sergeant · Panel 29E, Line 28
- ROBERT HARRY DARLINGFirst Lieutenant · Panel 29E, Line 28
- RUFUS JOHN DOWDYPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 29
- DEWAIN V DUBBPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 29
- JAMES LEE ELLIS JRSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 29
- LINWOOD CALVIN CORBETTSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 31
- SHERMAN LAWRENCE JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 31
- EMORY LEE JORGENSENSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 31
- CLARENCE ALVIE MILLER JRPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 33
- LOUIS CHARLES MILLERSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 33
- EDRICK KENNETH STEVENSPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 36
- RICHARD ARLAN STONESergeant · Panel 29E, Line 36
- WILLIE ALFRED WRIGHTCorporal · Panel 29E, Line 37
From Alexander
- DONALD R JUDDFirst Lieutenant · June 22, 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.