Category: Vietnam

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Hawks, Richard Franklin
Marines Corporal

Richard Franklin Hawks, age 38, from Rockford, Illinois, Winnebago county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, March 3, 1985
Death details: On July 5, 1967, less than a month from going home, Richard was shot by a sniper in DaNang. The bullet passed through his head, knocking out a front portion of his brain. A comrade cut his throat in an emergency tracheotomy and inserted a fountain pen to clear his windpipe. Richard was sent to a hospital in Boston. Richard married, had two children and worked as a maintenace man at a church in Rockford. Richard died of a massive cerebral hemmorhage related to his wounds.
Cemetery: Sunset Memorial Gardens in Machesney Park, Illinois

Source: National Archives, findagrave.com

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Heugel, Freddy Paul
Army Specialist 4

Freddy Paul Heugel, age 35, from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Wayne County.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Saturday, May 12, 1984
Death details: He died this day in 1984 from wounds he received in 1969 at age 20. Years ago his fiancé posted this on a Vietnam memorial site: “He came home with massive injuries just five months after he left. When he found out how bad it was he refused to see me. I was devastated.” Freddy’s name was added to the Vietnam Wall in 1989.

Source: National Archives, togetherweserved, Battle Creek Enquirier (1989)

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Doyle, Michael William
Navy Commander

Michael William Doyle from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, February 29, 1980
Death details: Hostile, died in North Vietnam.

Source: National Archives.

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Fuite, Ronald James
Army Private 1st class

Ronald James Fuite, age 30, from West Olive, Michigan, Ottawa county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parent: Helen and Lester Fuite

School: Grand Haven High (1967)

Date of death: Saturday, February 16, 1980
Death details: Ron was wounded in action Jan. 15, 1970. He suffered “a fragment wound to the head.” Ron returned to the states in 1970. He was quadriplegic and unable to speak. He spent the next 10 years in veterans hospitals, mostly in Battle Creek and Ann Arbor. Two year after his death, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated. His name was added in 1990.

Cemetery: Grand Haven, Michigan

Source: National Archives, findagrave.com, Detroit Free Press (1980)

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Humphrey, William Edward
Army Sergeant

William Edward Humphrey, age 38, from Bethel, Tennessee, Multiple county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Wednesday, February 6, 1980
Death details: Wounded by small arms fire in Pleiku Province on May 28, 1966. Died from his wound in 1980 in Tennessee
Cemetery: Nashville National

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association

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Ribich, Michael P.
Army Specialist 4

Michael P. Ribich, age 31, from Great Falls, New Hampshire, Great county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Saturday, October 6, 1979
Death details: Severly injured during a rocket attack at Tay Ninh on the Cambodian border. He injuries left him paralyzed. He returned to the U.S. but never fully recovered and died from those injuries.

Source: National Archives, Great Falls Tribune (1970, 1979)

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Murff, Herbert Sterling
Marines Master sergeant

Herbert Sterling Murff, age 41, from Caruthersville, Missouri, Pemiscot county.

Service era: Vietnam

Spouse: Dorthy A. Murff

Children: Vikki Murff and Denyse Murff

Parent: Callie R. Murff

Date of death: Saturday, March 31, 1979
Death details: Died at St. Joseph Hospital East in Memphis, Tenn. His name was added to the Vietnam Wall in 1997. He was crew chief on a CH-46 helicopter that came under fire on August 8, 1966 at Quang Tri. He was wounded in the abdomen and later had his spleen removed. He returned from the war to live a normal life until 1979 when he came down with bronchial pneumonia. He died because he had no spleen.

Source: National Archives, Memphis Commercial Appeal 1979, Associated Press (1997)

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Bond, Ronald Leslie
Air Force Captain

Ronald Leslie Bond from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, February 6, 1979
Death details: Hostile, died missing; body not recovered in Laos

Source: National Archives

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Rosekrans, Leslie Donald
Army Specialist 4

Leslie Donald Rosekrans from Auburn, Michigan, Bay county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, February 6, 1979
Death details: Hostile, died missing, North Vietnam

Source: National Archives

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Michael, Patrick Joseph
Army Specialist 4

Sharron Eaton, left, stand before the Wall in 1996. Her brother, Spc. Patrick Joseph Michael, was added in 1996. Joining her was their mother, Edna Radford, front

Patrick Joseph Michael, age 33, from Detroit, Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Vietnam

Parent: Edna Radford

Date of death: Sunday, January 28, 1979
Death details: Michael was shot in the head by the Viet Cong on February 23, 1967 while his squad traveled at night down a river. He wasn’t expected to live, but was airlifted to a field hospital and later transferred to hospitals in Japan and California. Two years after the injury, he started having seizures. He died in 1979 in Michigan. Doctors said he died from a degenerative neurological disease from the wound. His name was added to the Wall in 1996.

Cemetery: White Chapel Memorial Park, Troy

Source: National Archives, findagrve.com, Detroit Free Press