Benito-Bobo-Rodriguez

SGT BENITO BOBO RODRIGUEZ


SGT - E5 - Army - Regular, 101st Airborne Division, Freedom, CA. Length of service 0 years. His tour began on Dec 15, 1967. Casualty was on Apr 6, 1968 in THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM. Hostile, died of wounds, GROUND CASUALTY, MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS. Alpha Company lost 11 soldiers in this event. Read more about April 6th 1968 here. Body was recovered. Panel 48E - Line 32

PHOTOS

I couldn't find additional photos.

BIRTH 1 Apr 1948, USA
DEATH 6 Apr 1968 (aged 20), Thừa Thiên-Huế, Vietnam

BURIAL - Pajaro Valley Memorial Park, Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California, USA
PLOT Garden of Devotion, Lot 862, Grave 4. MEMORIAL ID 99020617

OBITUARY

I couldn't find an actual obituary but I found this:

After three months in Vietnam, Rodriguez considered himself an "old timer." Benito Bobo Rodriguez was born on April 1, 1948, in Blythe, California, to Bocanegra and Betty Rodriguez. At an early age he moved with his family to Freedom, California, where he and his brothers Charles, Joe and Sandy attended Freedom Elementary School. Young Rodriguez also became involved in the community through the Valley Catholic Church and later served as an altar boy at Sunday mass. During his pre-teen years, he was a pitcher on the church-sponsored Padres little league baseball team. In the fall of 1963 Benito enrolled in Watsonville High School and remained there until January 1966 when he dropped out during his junior year. Following his eighteenth birthday in April, 1966, Benito Rodriguez enlisted in the US Army. He completed basic training at Fort Ord, California, advanced infantry training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and sniper school and paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia. As a 101st Airborne, "Screaming Eagle," sniper he was posted to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, before leaving for Vietnam in January 1968. When Rodriguez arrived in Vietnam, he joined Company C, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, serving in the central highlands. The 501st Infantry Regiment's primary mission was to intercept and destroy supplies arriving through the Ho Chi Minh trail. On April 6, 1968, five days after his twentieth birthday, Sergeant Benito Bobo Rodriguez was on a search and destroy mission in Thua Thien Province when an enemy anti-tank round exploded near him taking his life. His body was returned to Watsonville and buried in Pajaro Valley Memorial Park. Benito was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.