Lary Fogle - Vietnam Wall

Lary Fogle was the first Dearborn County (Indiana) resident to lose his life in the Vietnam War. He had turned 18 years old just 4 days before his death. He was in combat at age 17 though a major controversy led to a rules change requiring someone to be 18 to fight. He had dodged the bullet once before when a .30 caliber round struck him in the chest but was deflected by a saber tooth he was wearing and only wounded him. He sent home the newspaper he was reading at the time of the incident, showing the hole in the middle where the bullet went through. Lary Fogle was killed by fragments of a mortar shell while serving as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. It has been said that Lary had a happy-go-lucky attitude and always was smiling. He... read more

Lary Fogle was the first Dearborn County (Indiana) resident to lose his life in the Vietnam War. He had turned 18 years old just 4 days before his death. He was in combat at age 17 though a major controversy led to a rules change requiring someone to be 18 to fight. He had dodged the bullet once before when a .30 caliber round struck him in the chest but was deflected by a saber tooth he was wearing and only wounded him. He sent home the newspaper he was reading at the time of the incident, showing the hole in the middle where the bullet went through. Lary Fogle was killed by fragments of a mortar shell while serving as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. It has been said that Lary had a happy-go-lucky attitude and always was smiling. He could always get you to laugh and it was always a good time if he was around. There is a copy of a letter he wrote home engraved on the Vietnam Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana and it says, FORT GORDON, Georgia 1965 " Dear Dad, Pop, if I do go into combat I intend on doing my job to the best of my ability. However, I don't intend on being a HERO. I might be wrong but in my way of thinking, the only heroes there are, are the men who get killed in the process of doing their job." Love always, Lary.
Lary may not intended on being a hero, but that is exactly what he is.

Lary is buried in Riverview Cemetary in Aurora, Indiana next to his 2 brothers, Joey Henson and USMC PFC Johnny Fogle and just down from his father, Herbert Fogle. read less