Ralph Lewis Harper

Vietnam War
Unit1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division
RankLance Corporal U.S. Marine Corps
Entered Service FromIndianapolis Indiana
Date of DeathJune 6 1968
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
A
Notes
Lance Corporal Harper was a member of Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. On June 6, 1968, he was a passenger in a Boeing Sea Knight Cargo Helicopter (CH-46A) during a troop extraction in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam when the helicopter was hit by ground fire, exploded and crashed. His remains were recovered on October 19, 2006 and identified on May 8, 2008. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.