KENT D ERICKSON
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HONORED ON PANEL 4W, LINE 91 OF THE WALL

KENT DOUGLAS ERICKSON

WALL NAME

KENT D ERICKSON

PANEL / LINE

4W/91

DATE OF BIRTH

09/14/1951

CASUALTY PROVINCE

BINH DINH

DATE OF CASUALTY

03/29/1971

HOME OF RECORD

ST LOUIS PARK

COUNTY OF RECORD

Hennepin County

STATE

MN

BRANCH OF SERVICE

ARMY

RANK

PVT

Book a time
Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR KENT DOUGLAS ERICKSON
POSTED ON 9.28.2023
POSTED BY: Thomas Borgen

Miss you Buddy

Drove through the old neighborhood today. Went by your old house and walked around the swamp where we used to play. Thank you for so many great memories and adventures growing up together. Thinking of you often and miss you
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POSTED ON 5.29.2023
POSTED BY: Mark Durbin

What Happened?

My dear friend, what happened to you over there? This Memorial Day, as always, I am remembering you and the kind soul you were.
Two months before your death you had been accepted to the School of Journalism at the University of Minnesota. You were a writer and full of passion for life. This was your dream. You were scheduled to come home soon.
Records indicate you took your own life? Very hard to believe! How did you go from being so ambitious to taking your own life? Does anyone know? Was anyone near you? Did you talk to anyone?
When I was scared and in pain, as a kid, you were there for me. I wish someone had been there for you. It is now more than 50 years later and I am still searching for answers. Maybe one day I’ll find out.
I wrote a short story about you that was published in The Sun Magazine. And so, you will not be forgotten. Your memory, and story, is passed on to my children and they will keep it alive after I’m gone. I miss you Butch.
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POSTED ON 5.3.2023

Ground Casualty

PVT Kent D. Erickson was an Airborne-qualified mortarman serving with E Company, 3rd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. During 1971, the only major Army ground combat unit in Military Region II was the 173rd Airborne Brigade. It stood vigil over National Route QL-19 and Binh Dinh Province’s western approaches; however, its tenure as the longest serving U.S. Army ground combat brigade in Vietnam was drawing to a close. Redeployment activities began in April, and by August the last elements returned to the United States. A few weeks before the Brigade started stand down activities, Erickson died at LZ Uplift on March 29, 1971, after reportedly taking his own life. He was nineteen years old. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “The Drawdown: 1970-1971” by Andrew J. Birtle & John R. Maass]
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POSTED ON 6.20.2022
POSTED BY: John Fabris

honoring you...

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from your cousin Mark Durbin is poignant. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….
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POSTED ON 8.22.2021
POSTED BY: Mark Durbin

I will always miss you!

My dear cousin Butch, I still remember the last time I saw you. We were visiting and were told you were going to be home. I loved you so much. I wanted to see you so badly. You used to wake me up early to walk Clay with you and then take rides on the back of your motorcycle. I always thought you were so cool! I was so excited. At the time, I slept in the basement when we visited. I still wet the bed and I wanted so badly not to. I tied a shoelace around myself to try to keep from wetting. Unfortunately, I did anyway and it got wet and shrank and I was in pain. I was whimpering and hiding in the morning when you came down to the basement. You asked me what was wrong and I hesitantly told you. I was so embarrassed. But, in your kind and gentle manner you carefully helped me to get the string off. I remember you tousled my hair and said, 'come on buddy' and acted like it was nothing. Then we grabbed Clay and you handed me his leash and we ran off in the snow.
You promised you would write to me and the letters never came. I thought maybe you didn't like me because of wetting the bed. My parents just said you were busy. Several years later I found out why. I will never forget you. Always, the angels go too soon.
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