Ronald Edward Hibbard was born on 4 November 1948 at Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky. He was the son of Ralph Hibbard and Georgia Hibbard of Oak Ridge TN enlisted in the US Marine Corps on April 17 1968 in Knoxville TN. He arrived in Vietnam on September 29, 1968 and was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d MARDIV (Rein) FMF.
During Operation Lancaster II in the Hoa Huong and Trung Luong Districts of Quang Tri Province the Battalion entered the DMZ in search of the NVA forces infiltrating south. On October 8, Company D was patrolling in the vicinity of Dong (Hill) Be Lao when they were hit with fourteen rounds of enemy 60mm mortar fire, killing two and wounding ten men. One of the casualties was PFC Hibbard who was killed by fragmentation wounds from the hostile mortar fire. –Submitted by Mr. Victor Vilionis.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel, October 15, 1968
Pfc. Ronald E. Hibbard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hibbard of 119 Villinova St., Oak Ridge, has been killed in the Vietnam War, the Defense Department announced Monday. The parents were notified Saturday by Capt. W.H. West of Knoxville. Pfc. Hibbard was graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1968 and received his boot training in Parris Island, S.C. He was sent to Vietnam, Oct. 1. The Hibbards came to Oak Ridge in 1963 from California. The father was employed by the Atomic City Tool and Die Co. The son had planned to become a commercial artist when the returned from service. He also leaves a brother, Ron; a sister, Mrs. Patricia O’Leak of Aurora, Ill., and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Shirley Jones of Highland Park, Ill.
- Rank: Private First Class
- Date of birth: 4 November 1948
- Date of death: 9 October 1968
- County: Anderson
- Hometown: Oak Ridge
- Service Branch: Marine Corps
- Division/Assignment: 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division
- Conflict: Vietnam
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Bob Jones Cemetery, Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXII, Top Panel
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