Darrel Anthony Bondrowski
Corporal, U.S. Army

Darrel Anthony Bondrowski enlisted in the U.S. Army on 29 August 1966. He was deployed to Vietnam where his tour started on 30 September 1967.

In Vietnam, Private First Class Bondrowski was an Infantryman and Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. There he became friends with an Artillery Forward Observer, First Lieutenant Robert Scott Byrnes, [Honoree Record ID 237939] when he was assigned as 1LT Byrnes' RTO.

During a Rest & Recreation trip to Hawaii in January 1968, 1LT Byrnes married his girlfriend with PFC Bondrowski serving as his Best Man.

The Tet Offensive began in late January 1968 and heavy fighting continued through February. On 9 February 1968, PFC Bondrowski was Killed in Action when he sustained multiple fragmentation wounds during a firefight. The 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, lost fourteen men near Lo Giang on 9 February 1968; First Lieutenant Robert Scott Byrnes, Darrel's friend whom he served as best man at his wedding, was also one of them.

Bondrowski's body was recovered. He received a posthumous promotion to Corporal.

Badge and Medals

Combat Infantryman Badge
Purple Heart
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal

Honors

The name Darrel A Bondrowski is located on Panel 38E Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.