The Wall › Panel 41E › North Dakota › Rodger Ray Hertel
RODGER RAY HERTEL
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
June 21, 1942 – February 26, 1968
Service recordRodger Ray Hertel, of Portal, North Dakota, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 26, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 37
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- June 21, 1942
- Home of record
- Portal, North Dakota (Burke County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 26, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
63 names on the Wall carry the date February 26, 1968; three of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. 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 37
- JAMES EDWARD DEESE JRCorporal · February 26, 1968
- JAY CEE DYERSpecialist Four · February 26, 1968
- GARFIELD EVANSSpecialist Four · February 26, 1968
- MICHAEL SHERIDAN GARRETTPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GARY KENNETH LANNOMPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 39
From Portal
- STEVE LOUIS ESCALLIERSpecialist Four · October 31, 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.