lest we forget

AGUILAR, PEDRO RAMIREZ

Rank / Branch:

  • PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, U. S. MARINE CORP

Date Of Birth:

  • 1949-01-02

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • SINGLE

Unit:

  • 3RD MARINE DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

  • 1967-12-01

Loss Coordinates:

  • QUANG TRI

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • AGUILAR, PEDRO RAMIREZ, PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, U. S. MARINE CORP, ODESSA, ECTOR COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANGRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL, MARINE CORP COMBAT ACTION RIBBON

BIOGRAPHY

  • Pedro "Pete" Aguilar was born in Morenci, Arizona. He was the son of Virginia Ramirez and Jose Aguilar. His parents divorced and his mother remarried to M.M Galindo and moved to Odessa. He grew up in Odessa and attended the Ector County Schools. He was a 1967 graduate of Ector High School and while at Ector, he had been active in the Eagle band and played JV Football. He was also on the Varsity Track Team.
  • Pedro joined the U.S. Marines the day he graduated from high school in May 1967. According to the Marine Recruiter at the time, Pete was a quiet young man who didn't have much to say. His stepfather had been in the Marines, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. He completed his recruit training at the Marine Corp Recruit Training Dept, San Diego, California and then did his ITR at Camp Pendleton, California, he then had additional engineer training. He shipped out for Vietnam as soon as his training was complete in November 1967. Prior to leaving he was home on leave, and he didn't talk about his upcoming service in Vietnam according to his stepfather, M.M. Galindo of Odessa.
  • Pedro was assigned to the Headquarers and Service Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. He wrote home that "it didn't look like much of a war" and "he didn't have much to say"; but in closing "How's everyone back home?"
  • On December 1, 1967, three weeks after arriving in country, this 18 year old marine was riding in a jeep that hit a land mine and he was killed instantly. He would have been 19 years old in a month.
  • Pete was buried at the Sunset Memorial Garden's Cemetery in Odessa near many other Odessan's who perished in Vietnam. He was survived by his mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. M.M. Galindo of Odessa; his father, Jose Aguilar of Clinton, Arizona; his brother Joe Aguilar, Jr. of Odessa; sisters Mrs. Frank Sanchez and Minnie Aguilar also of Odessa. His mother passed away in 2005 and his sister Minnie in 2000.
  • SUNSET MEMORIAL GARDEN'S CEMETERY, ODESSA
  • AT ECTOR HIGH SCHOOL FALL OF 1966