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Kenneth
Gonder
Gonder
CPL · 1st Platoon · 11B10 · Infantryman
KIA
In-Country Service
1970-03-07 –
Home of Record
Middlesex County, NJ
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Service timeline not yet compiled. If you served with or knew Kenneth Gonder, please use the contribute form to share what you remember.
1970-03-07
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — March 7, 1970
CPL Kenneth Gonder began his tour with the 1st Platoon, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division, Republic of Vietnam. A 1969 economics graduate of Wilkes College, he had been drafted that fall, trained at Fort Dix and Fort Lewis, and shipped overseas the weekend of March 1, 1970. By his family's account he disagreed with the war and had hated guns since childhood, but felt it his duty to go — resolving that he would not kill anyone.
1970-05-19
Non-Hostile — Accident
Died — non-hostile (Allied land mine), May 19, 1970
CPL Kenneth Gonder was killed instantly on May 19, 1970, in Binh Duong Province when he stepped on an Allied Forces land mine while walking with his platoon — the circumstance his sister records in her tribute, and the reason the casualty is classified **non-hostile** in the Honor States and Virtual Wall records. He was 23, and had been in Vietnam a little over two months. His death came during the 1st Cavalry Division's Cambodian Incursion, while 2/8 Cav was operating across the border; one day later, on May 20, the battalion opened a fire support base inside Cambodia named **[FB Gonder](/locations/fsb-gonder/)** — very likely in his memory. He was survived by his parents, Walter and Birtie, and two sisters, JoAnn and Robin. His name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Panel 10W, Line 64.
1970-05-19
Casualty record
Binh Duong Province, III Corps, RVN (the casualty province of record). Exact place within the province not established.
Did You Know Kenneth, or Serve Alongside Kenneth?
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