Calvin Charles Rice, Jr.

The gravestone of Calvin C. Rice Jr. in the Gettysburg National Cemetery Annex.

NPS photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

Calvin Charles Rice was an African American soldier who served during the Vietnam War.

Place of Birth:

York, PA

Date of Birth:

October 1946

Place of Death:

Vietnam

Date of Death:

June 15, 1969

Place of Burial:

Annex, Row M, Grave M-008

Cemetery Name:

Gettysburg National Cemetery Annex

Annex, Row M, Grave M-008

Staff Sergeant Calvin Charles Rice, Jr. is one of the most highly decorated service members to lie at rest in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Born in October 1946 in York, Pennsylvania, to Calvin and Evelyn Rice, Calvin Rice, Jr., was a star athlete at William Penn High School and a talented musician, with a great love for playing the drums.

He entered the Army before his eighteenth birthday in June 1964, and worked his way up the ranks to Staff Sergeant in the 4^th Cavalry, 25^th Infantry Division. Departing for Vietnam late in 1968, Sergeant Rice left behind his wife, Tania, and their four-year-old daughter, Barbara.

Grave and inset picture of Calvin C. Rice, Jr.

During his time in Vietnam, Rice, who served as an armor crewman with the 25^th Infantry Division, earned a Silver Star Medal, a Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, an Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and two Purple Hearts. Exceptionally courageous, Sergeant Rice was severely wounded while leading a patrol in the Ho Bo Woods on June 15, 1969. Ten days later, the twenty-two-year-old staff sergeant died from the wounds. The remains of Sgt. Rice were brought home and laid to rest in the Gettysburg National Cemetery Annex. Fifty years after his death, in 2019, a flagpole in York’s Penn Park was dedicated and named in honor or Sergeant Calvin Charles Rice, Jr.