The Wall › Panel 3E › Virginia › Ronald Henry Chittum
RONALD HENRY CHITTUM
Sergeant · U.S. Army
January 15, 1941 – November 18, 1965
Service recordRonald Henry Chittum, of Vinton, Virginia, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on November 18, 1965, in South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 3E, Line 100 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3E · Line 100
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- January 15, 1941
- Home of record
- Vinton, Virginia (Roanoke County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 18, 1965
- Age
- 24
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
Six names on the Wall carry the date November 18, 1965. In November 1965, 545 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 318 of its members that month.
He died in South Vietnam while the Battle of the Ia Đrăng Valley was under way. In the Ia Đrăng Valley (14–18 November 1965), battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fought North Vietnamese regulars at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany — the first major battle between the two armies and the first great test of the helicopter war. The record gives the date and his unit, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which fought in the battle, but not the exact place.
Read the history
Also on Panel 3E, Line 100
- RICHARD CROSBY CLARKSpecialist Four · November 18, 1965
- LINDSEY HOUSTON CROWChief Warrant Officer 2 · November 18, 1965
- LOUIS SAM GUTIERREZSergeant · November 18, 1965
- JOHN FREDERICK MCDERMOTTSpecialist Four · November 18, 1965
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD CROSBY CLARKSpecialist Four · Panel 3E, Line 100
- LOUIS SAM GUTIERREZSergeant · Panel 3E, Line 100
From Vinton
- JOSEPH TIMOTHY KEESEELance Corporal · May 15, 1967
- DANIEL R MEADORSpecialist Four · October 3, 1967
- WILLIAM F SILVER JRCorporal · 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.