Rank: Private First Class
Unit: M Company, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11E – Armor Crewman
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 20-Jun-1946
Hometown: Chatsworth, California
Marital status: Married to Roberta L. Loisel
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Start of tour: 13-Apr-1967
Incident date: 21-May-1967
Date of casualty: 21-May-1967
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, died of wounds. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Patrick Michael Loisel was passenger in a military vehicle on convoy escort mission when unit engaged a hostile force in a firefight.
Seventeen Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
SP5 William Phillip Centers Jr
SGT Eugene Harold Dickinson
PVT Jerry Lee Houser
SP4 Toler Lee Hutchins Jr
SP4 Phillip Earl Ireland
SSG James Albert Jackson
SGT Alfred Lee
PFC Patrick Michael Loisel
SP4 Henry David McInnis
SP4 James David McWhorter
SP4 Anthony Wilfred Roybal
PFC Rodolfo Andres Saenz
SSG Walter Stephen Simpson
PFC William Charles Stanley
SP4 James Thomas Steighner
SP4 Dwight Elmer Timberlake
SP4 Larry Allen Williamson
Location of fatality: Long Khanh, South Vietnam, YT 564 054
Place of interment: San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS PATRICK MICHAEL LOISEL
21 MAY 1967
M COMPANY, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class Loisel distinguished himself by valorous actions on 21 May 1967, while serving as loader on a tank in a convoy traveling near the village of Soui Cat, Republic of Vietnam, As the convoy was proceeding along the highway, it was suddenly attacked by an estimated reinforced battalion of Viet Cong, armed with recoilless rifles, mortars, automatic weapons and small arms. During the initial barrage of hostile fire Private Loisel was hit and critically wounded by an anti-tank round; the concussion threw him onto the back deck of the tank. Disregarding both his painful wounds and personal safety, Private Loisel courageously drew his side arm and returned fire until his ammunition was exhausted. Private Loisel then crawled into the wounded gunner’s seat and began to direct devastating fire upon insurgent positions. He continued to decimate the enemy until he passed out from the shock of his wounds. Private First Class Loisel’s courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 1932 (27 June 1967)