University of Wisconsin Stout | Wisconsin's Polytechnic University

World War I       World War II       Korean War       Vietnam conflict

John Leon Abrams

John Leon Abrams entered Stout State College in September of 1958.  He graduated from high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  While a student at Stout, Abrams was active in Sigma Tau Gamma, Metals Guild, Manual Arts Players, and was a recipient of the Medallion Award. He graduated from Stout in 1962 and entered the service that same year.  He became a navy pilot and served in that branch for six years. Lieutenant Abrams was killed in action in Vietnam on July 13, 1968 by enemy ground fire.

Walter L. Cropp

Walter L. Cropp enrolled at the Stout State College in 1959. He was a graduate of Menomonie High School.  He was a member of Stout's football team. Following graduation in January of 1964, he taught industrial education at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee.  He enlisted in the air force in 1965 and attended Officer's Training School in San Antonio, Texas.  He was trained as a helicopter pilot.  He served in Vietnam for a year and was then assigned to Okinawa.  On March 14, 1968 his helicopter crashed in the East China Sea.  There were no survivors.

Paul David Derby

Paul David Derby joined the freshman class at Stout in September, 1961.  He was a graduate of Columbus High School in Marshfield WI.  As a Stout student, Derby was active in Chi Lambda, the Stout Society of Industrial Technology, a member of the football team, and a member of the marine reserves.  Following graduation he served full time in the Marine Corps.  While in Vietnam he served as a fighter pilot with the Marine Fifth Attack Squadron 115.  He was killed on November 17, 1968 from enemy ground fire.

Thomas Arthur Gerg

Thomas Arthur Gerg entered Stout in the fall of 1962. He was a graduate of Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, Wisconsin. While at Stout he was a member of the Alfresco Club and lived in Hovlid Hall.  He left Stout to join the Marine Corps.  He had been in the service for less than a year when he was killed in Vietnam by friendly fire on January 12, 1967.

Oliver Bruce Walley

Oliver Bruce Walley was a graduate of Northern Illinois University and Stout before joining the staff of the Industrial Teaching Education Department in 1965.  He was also a member of the naval air reserve. At the time of his death he had been working on his doctorate at the University of Missouri.  He was attending a two week active duty training period at Los Alamitos naval air station in California. Walley was one of seven people killed when his bomber crashed during a training exercise near his base in California.

Jeremy Wojtkiewicz

Jeremy Wojtkiewicz came to this campus from the Wisconsin State College-Whitewater.  He was a 1962 graduate of Weyerhaeuser High School.  He received his BS Degree from Stout in 1966.  Soon after, he entered the service and was commissioned an Army second lieutenant following graduation from the Officer Candidate School at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.  In Vietnam he served with the 19th combat Engineer Battalion.  He became a casualty on January 17, 1969 and later died of his wounds when a mine exploded under the vehicle in which he was riding.