The Wall › Panel 4W › New York › Russell George Ahrens
RUSSELL GEORGE AHRENS
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
August 7, 1951 – March 18, 1971
Service recordRussell George Ahrens, of Selden, New York, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on March 18, 1971, in Laos, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 57 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 57
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 Five (SP5)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
- Unit (as recorded)
- US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
- Born
- August 7, 1951
- Home of record
- Selden, New York (Suffolk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 18, 1971
- Age
- 19
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
Six names on the Wall carry the date March 18, 1971. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 60 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while Operation Lam Son 719 was under way. In Lam Son 719 (February–March 1971), South Vietnamese troops drove into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, carried and supported by U.S. helicopters and aircraft; more than 100 U.S. helicopters were lost.
Also on Panel 4W, Line 57
- THOMAS EDWARD TESTORFFSpecialist Four · March 17, 1971
- ALAN BRENT BOFFMANFirst Lieutenant · March 18, 1971
- KEITH ALLAN BRANDTCaptain · March 18, 1971
- JOHN ROBERT CHAMPLINStaff Sergeant · March 18, 1971
From Selden
- ANTHONY MARIO ORLANDOLance Corporal · March 5, 1967
- LOUIS PHILLIP MERINOPrivate First Class · March 10, 1967
- DAMON LIGOURI RITCHIECorporal · January 31, 1968
- WILLIAM WARREN DINIROSpecialist Four · March 26, 1968
- JOHN MONROE JONES JRSergeant · January 28, 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.