1st Cavalry Division patch
D Co. 2/8 CAV
Angry Skipper Archive
Archive › Roster › SP4 Raymond Ahern
Raymond Ahern
★
Raymond
Ahern
SP4  ·  HQ  ·  13E40 · Cannon Fire Direction Specialist (parent MOS — served in the field with D Company's HQ element as the artillery FO's RTO; see notes)
KIA
In-Country Service
1968-05-21 –
Home of Record
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Share a Memory
Timeline (6)
Photos (1)
Served alongside (1)
Verbal accounts (0)
Documents (2)
Letters (0)
Service record (1)
External resources (3)

Primary sources: the Virtual Wall memorial page for SP4 Raymond J. Ahern, Jr. (virtualwall.org, tribute entries dated 2002-2005); Honor States and VVMF Wall of Faces (baseline casualty facts); and CPT Henry Colavita's memoir, "Company Grade: Memoir of an Angry Skipper" (Colavita commanded D Co, 2/8 Cav, at the time of Ahern's death — see the colavita-henry-memoir-company-grade document). Larry Hackett, a fellow D Company soldier and friend of Ahern's, left a personal tribute on the Virtual Wall in 2005 — see soldiers/hackett-larry and the hackett-larry-tribute-ahern-raymond document.

1968
D Company
Served with D Company, 2/8 Cav as the artillery FO's RTO
Spent most of his tour with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry as Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) for the artillery Forward Observer supporting the company — both men were members of the 19th Artillery Regiment. CPT Henry Colavita, his company commander, counted him as one of his own men and one of D Company's losses; this archive does the same. Confirmed independently by a 2002 Virtual Wall tribute and by Colavita's own memoir. Became close friends with fellow soldier Larry Hackett (see soldiers/hackett-larry) while the division was still working the Quang Tri area, before the move south into III Corps in late October 1968.
1968-05-21
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — May 21, 1968
SP4 Raymond Ahern began his tour in the Republic of Vietnam with C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 19th Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division.
1968-11-07
Casualty record
Operation Sheridan Sabre — 1st Cav's First III Corps Operation (Nov 1968 – Apr 1969)
Tay Ninh, Binh Long, and Phuoc Long Provinces, III Corps, RVN — Cambodian border / War Zone C, the Fishhook, and the Song Be corridor
1968-11-25
Reassigned
Reassigned to his post on LZ Rita
Reassigned to his post on Landing Zone Rita one day before his death, per the Virtual Wall tribute.
1968-11-26
Incident
Killed in action — November 26, 1968
Killed in the middle of the night on LZ Rita when his bunker took a direct hit from a rocket; killed instantly. Per CPT Colavita's memoir, this was among the first losses in D Company under his command, which had begun the previous month. His friend Larry Hackett later left a personal tribute recalling that night — see the hackett-larry-tribute-ahern-raymond document. SP4 Ahern was 20 years old, and is remembered on Panel 38W, Line 63 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1968-11-26
Casualty record
SP4 Raymond Ahern Killed — Rocket Attack on LZ Rita, November 26, 1968
FSB/LZ Rita (XT505795), Binh Long Province, III Corps, RVN — the Fishhook

Did You Know Raymond, or Serve Alongside Raymond?

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