Denis James Zimprich

Denis James Zimprich

Company A 1/22 Infantry

4th Infantry Division

KIA 04/07/70

PERSONAL DATA

Home of Record: Watertown, SD
Date of birth: 01/07/1949

MILITARY DATA

Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: E4
Rank: Specialist Four
MOS: 11B20: Infantryman
Length Service: 01
Unit: A CO, 1ST BN, 22ND INFANTRY, 4TH INF DIV, USARV

CASUALTY DATA

Start Tour: 08/23/1969
Incident Date: 04/07/1970
Casualty Date: 04/07/1970
Age at Loss: 21
Location: Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Misadventure

Panel W12 Line 105

Denis Zimprich was killed by friendly fire at grid reference BR580734,
approximately 13 kilometers north/northwest of Vinh Thanh airfield.

SP4 Denis J. Zimprich's decorations

Denis James Zimprich was born January 7, 1949, in Bellflower, California, to Richard and Inez Zimprich.
He had five sisters, Carleen, Joy, Jane, Janice, and Diana. When he was still just a baby, he moved with his family to Grover,
South Dakota. He attended grade school in Grover and high school in Hazel, South Dakota. Denis graduated from Hazel High School
in 1967. He had further education at Humboldt Institute in Minneapolis and graduated in 1968. After graduating, he was a clerk for
Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company for a year. He enjoyed hunting, bowling, and, especially, spending time with the family.

Denis Zimprich entered the service on the 19th of March in 1969 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He was sent overseas on August 23, 1969,
as a Specialist Fourth Class with A Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. On February 23, 1970,
Specialist Zimprich was wounded in action.

On April 7, 1970, Specialist Fourth Class Denis James Zimprich was killed in the highlands of the Binh Dinh province of South Vietnam
while with his squad on a night ambush. He was “attempting to circle the unit and deliver the radio to another guard
he became misoriented and walked into the ambush.” His body was returned to the United States, and after funeral services,
he was buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery with full military honors.

Members of his Platoon also sent his family a handwritten note that included the words, “Although it is impossible
to fathom the depth of your grief, you are never the less not alone in your sorrow. To us Denis was a friend and
an exemplary soldier and we will miss him.” The letter from Lima Platoon went on: “The pressures of war forbid us
but a moment of solemn reflection, but that moment and the events of that fateful night are forever burnt in our memories.”

From the South Dakota Vietnam War Memorial Dedication website

Grave marker for Denis Zimprich

Photo by Carleen Kannas

The South Dakota Korean/Vietnam War Memorial

The panels on the left are the Korean Memorial - the panels on the right are the Vietnam Memorial.
Denis Zimprich's name is inscribed on the set of panels to the right, under his home county.

Photo by Hemmelman from the South Dakota Vietnam War Memorial Dedication website

For a tribute to Denis Zimprich click on the following link:

Together We Served

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