David John Richtsteig ★ Vietnam War Gold Star Veteran from Utah
On December 8, 1965 Major Richtsteig was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. ★ He served with honor in the United States Marine Corps. ★ He is remembered by the people of Utah. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of David John Richtsteig is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2020-04-20 15:51:57.
Missing : Core Data
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Missing : Supplemental Data
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Service Details
| This Profile ID | 294742 |
| Service ID | 529546009 |
| Name | David John Richtsteig |
| From | Cedar City, Iron County, Utah |
| Birth Date | May 9, 1942 |
| Casualty Date | December 8, 1965 |
| War | Vietnam War |
| Service Branch | Marine Corps |
| Rank | Major |
| Specialty | Field Artillery Officer |
| Unit/Group | 3rd Marine Division, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, C Battery |
| Casualty Type | Died while missing in action, prisoner of war |
| Location | South Vietnam, Quang Nam province |
| Burial | Memory Grove Memorial, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah |
| Notable Awards |
★ Prisoner of War Medal
★ Purple Heart |
| Remembered | David John Richtsteig is buried or memorialized at Memory Grove Memorial, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah.  David is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 04e, Line 2. |
Additional Details
David attended the University of Utah and graduated in 1964 with a major in accounting. He enlisted in the Marines in 1964. He was married and had a young son.During Operation Harvest Moon, David was assigned to the 11th ARVN Ranger Battalion, when the 11th engaged hostile forces in the vicinity of Hill 43 east of Que Son. He was captured on December 8, 1965 by hostile forces and taken prisoner. He died while declared missing on January 22, 1974. His remains were returned on September 30, 1974 and identified on February 14, 1975. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Prisoner of War Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ Combat Action Ribbon
★ National Defense Service Medal
★ Vietnam Campaign Medal
★ Vietnam Service Medal
★ Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
★ Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.Utah Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of Utah who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▶ Utah was home to over 2,762 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 356 World War I
• 1,904 World War II
• 138 Korean War
• 364 Vietnam War
• 101 Prisoners of war
• 609 Missing in action
• 25 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 27 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 3 Medal of Honor recipients
• 1,904 World War II
• 138 Korean War
• 364 Vietnam War
• 101 Prisoners of war
• 609 Missing in action
• 25 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 27 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 3 Medal of Honor recipients
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▼ Organizational Supporters - HonorStates.org and the National Unified Archive of American Gold Star Veterans is stringently curated. This attention to quality extends to our supporters program. We carefully research and screen prospective organizations we perceive as being suitably aligned with our mission
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Roy "Joker"
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
Honoring our fallen. Together. Uniting us in meaningful common cause. When we work together to honor our Gold Star veterans, we heal our nation together. It's a team effort. Everyone's invited to join as a Citizen Historian and Guardian of Honor. - learn more
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