SSGT Elmer William Dickens

Apr 22, 1937 -  Dec 11, 1966

(Note: would probably have been in the class of 1955 but joined the Army in 1954)

EX-RESIDENT DIES IN VIETNAM -- Sgt. Elmer Dickens Wounded Fatally In Combat

Sgt. Elmer (Penny) Dickens, 29, formerly of South Bend, died Sunday afternoon on a Vietnam battlefield "as the result of wounds suffered on a combat mission against hostile forces," according to a message from the War Department received by members of his family here.

The message said his platoon had been ambushed by the Viet Cong. Sgt. Dickens twice previously had been wounded while fighting in the jungle war. Sgt. Dickens, a member of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Rangers, Company C, was engaged in the second Operation Attleboro when the ambush took place.

The son of Mrs. Vivian Dickens, 55105 Lexington Ave., he was born and raised in South Bend and attended Central High School before joining the army in 1954. He took basic training at Camp Chaffee, Ark., and served in Hawaii and Thailand before returning to the continental U.S. in 1963, when he was assigned to training recruits in basic combat at Fort Dix, N.J. He had been in
Vietnam for the last year.

- Leaves Widow, 4 Children -

Besides his mother, he is survived by his widow, Flo, four children, Robert, Nadine, Elmer, and Christie, all of Marina, Calif.; three sisters, Mrs. Carol Menzelli, 3710 Curtis Dr., South Bend; Mrs. Marlene Moore, Mishawaka; and Mrs. Edwin Schweisberger, Rt. 3, Bremen, and a brother, Donald
E. Morley, South Bend.

The body will be returned to the Hickey Funeral home for funeral services. Sgt. Dickens' widow and children will come here for the services.

(The South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana, Wednesday, December 14, 1966, Page 45)

Source: FindAGrave.com

06/08/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112181018/elmer-william-dickens