FACES FROM THE WALL

MONTANA and VIETNAM WAR

April 1968


    Delmar Leon LAWRENCE
Birth 1946-01-06  Rank AX3  Date of Death1968-04-01 
P. of birth   Service US Navy  PlaceOffshore, Military Region 4 South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Thompson Falls, Montana  Unit 7th FLEET, VP-26 Death Code Hostile, Died -Air Loss, Crash - Sea-Fixed Wing - Crew 
Hometown Thompson Falls   service # 3917745  Panel47E - Row 033 
Married Married  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery 

    Jimmy Dee PICKLE

Birth 1943-04-18  Rank SP5  Date of Death1968-04-04 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceQuang Tri South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Logan, Montana  Unit 1st Log Cmd, 446th Trans Co Death Code Hostile, Died Wounds-Artillery, Rocket, Mortar-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Logan   service # 28719114  Panel48E - Row 009 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date 1967-03-25  Comment   Cemetery 

    George Edward EDDEN

Birth 1948-04-13  Rank SP4  Date of Death1968-04-05 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceKontum South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Avon, Montana  Unit D CO, 1ST BN, 35TH INF RGT, 4 INF DIV   Death Code Hostile, Died-Multiple Fragmentation Wounds-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Avon   service # 56637958  Panel48E - Row 016 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1967-09-21   CommentVirtual Wall   Cemetery 

    Lionel Russell CRASE

Birth 1948-06-02  Rank LCPL  Date of Death1968-04-07 
P. of birth   Service US Marine Corp  PlaceQuang Tri South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Missoula, Montana  Unit 3rd Mar Div, H&S Co, 2nd Bn, 26th Marines Death Code Hostile, Died-Artillery, Rocket, Mortar-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Missoula   service # 2335138  Panel48E - Row 040 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1967-11-14   Comment   Cemetery 

Lance Cpl. Crase Killed in Vietnam
    Mrs. Barbara Crase of 219 S. 45th St.. W. was notified Thursday of the death of her son, Lance Cpl. L. Russell Crase, USMC, in action a Khe Sahn, Vietnam, 7 Apr (1968).
    Cpl. Crase was a member of the first. graduating class of Hellgate High School two years ago and attended the University of Montana. He enlisted in the Marine Corps 30 Mar (1967).
    He played varsity football for the Hellgate Knights and was graduated from boot camp at the top of his platoon.
    Survivors, besides his mother, include a younger brother, Geoffrey W. Crase in Missoula; his father, Robert F. Crase of Gig Harbor WA; his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Louis Mohr of Butte; his grandfather, Frederick Crase of Butte, and a great-aunt, Mrs. Lionel Smith of Missoula.
    Memorial services are pending. The death of Cpl Crase raised the Vietnam war fatality toll of Montanans to 101.
    ( Missoula, Missoula MT, 12 Apr 1968)

     Gilbert Leroy ZERBST

Birth 1949-10-01  Rank PFC  Date of Death1968-04-07 
P. of birth Hamilton Service US Marine Corp  PlaceQuang Tri South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		St Ignatius, Montana  Unit 3rd Mar Div, F Co, 2nd Bn, 26th Marines Death Code Hostile, Died-Artillery, Rocket, Mortar-Ground Casualty 
Hometown St Ignatius   service # 2335034  Panel48E - Row 050 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1967-12-24   Comment   Cemetery 

St. Ignatius Marine Killed
    St. Ignatius -- Pfc. Gilbert L. Zerbst, USMC, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Zerbst, St. Ignatius, has been killed in Khe Sanh, South Viet Nam, his parents were notified Sunday. Word of the 19-year-old Marine's death came to members of the family from four Marines who met them as they left St. Ignatius' Zion Church following Easter Sunday services.
    Born 1 Oct 1948 in Hamilton. Zerbst attended St. Ignatius High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on 20 Feb 1967, and went overseas 25 Nov (1968). In addition in his parents, Zerbst is survived by two brothers, Donald and Edward; and a sister, Irene, all of St. Ignatius; maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Reich, and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Anna Zerbst, all of Hamilton.
    Funeral services are pending. Memorials may be in the form of contributions to the Zion Lutheran Church in St. Ignatius.
    (Missoulian, Missoula MT, 15 Apr 1968)

    David Walter DORRIS

Birth 1947-06-29  Rank PFC  Date of Death1968-04-18 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceBien Hoa South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Kalispell, Montana  Unit 3rd Platoon, C Co, 5th Bn, 12th Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade Death Code Hostile, Died-Multiple Fragmentation Wounds-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Kalispell, Montana   service # 18807974  Panel50E - Row 037 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1968-04-18   Comment   Cemetery 

    Michael David PADILLA

Birth 1948-12-15  Rank LCPL  Date of Death1968-04-20 
P. of birth   Service US Marine Corp  PlaceQuang Tri South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Billings, Montana  Unit 3rd Mar Div, G Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines Death Code Hostile, Died-Gun, Small Arms Fire-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Billings, Montana   service # 2335086  Panel51E - Row 011 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1967-11-29   Comment   Cemetery 

"Hard to Stay Alive"
BILLINGS MARINE LOSES 'FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE'
    "It's kind of hard to stay alive."
    Those words in a recent letter from two Billings Marines to Mayor Willard Fraser came prophetically true Saturday when one of them was killed by enemy rifle fire in Quang Tri.
    Dead is Lance Corporal Michael D. Padilla, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Padilla of 1405 Second Ave and a 1967 graduate of Billings Senior High School. The Padillas learned of their son's death Tuesday afternoon.
    In a 26 Mar (1968) letter signed by Padilla, Pfc. Russell K. DeVerniero wrote the Mayor they were fighting Communism and not just the North Vietnamese Army or the Viet Cong.
    But the two also noted they were also fighting for their own lives.
    "During the Day we cannot fire our weapons unless we are first fired upon," the marines wrote. "When on out posts, we get fired upon by our own artillery and while standing lines at night, our own tanks and mortars fire upon us.
    "Between the enemy and our own support it's kind of hard to stay alive. Over here that is what we are really fighting for 'our lives'."
    When they hear news from Home telling about groups protesting this and that, they said they began to wonder if they are not risking their lives uselessly.
    "I think if those protesters would realize this and if they knew "that if we ceased fighting here, we'll be fighting at our own backdoor, they would shut up," the letter said.
    DeVerniero, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. L. DeVerniero of 627 Park Lane is also a 1967 Billings Senior graduate.
    Both boys were members of the Montana platoon, a 78-man body which contained 72 Montanans that began training in San Diego 23 Jun 1967. It was the honor platoons at graduation, 18 Aug 1967.
    Both were team leaders in a machine gun squad in Vietnam.
  &nbps; (Billings Gazette, Billings MT, 24 Apr 1968)

    Russell Floyd DEITCHLER

Birth 1947-07-23  Rank SGT  Date of Death1968-04-24 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceThua Thien South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Rosebud, Montana  Unit 101st Abn Div, C Co, 2nd Bn, 502nd Infantry Death Code Hostile, Died-Multiple Fragmentation Wounds-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Rosebud, Montana   service # 19880171  Panel51E - Row 045 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date1967-01-16   Comment   Cemetery 

    David Lynn BARBER
Birth 1947-05-09  Rank 2LT  Date of Death1968-04-28 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceQuang Tri South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Denton, Montana  Unit 1st Cav Div, C Co, 5th Bn, 7th Cavalry Death Code Hostile, Died-Gun, Small Arms Fire-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Denton, Montana  service # O5345997  Panel52E - Row 033 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals Purple Heart  
Tour Date 1968-04-03  Comment   Cemetery 

    John Charles MATTHEISEN

Birth 1949-10-03  Rank SP4  Date of Death1968-04-30 
P. of birth   Service US Army  PlaceBien Hoa South Vietnam 
Town of
Record 		Charlo, Montana  Unit II FF, Btry I, 29th Artillery Death Code Non-Hostile, Died Other-Accidental Self-Destruction-Ground Casualty 
Hometown Charlo, Montana   service # 19880752  Panel53E - Row 018 
Married Single  MIA - BR  Medals  
Tour Date1968-01-13   Comment   Cemetery 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!


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