Remembering the “Exeter Eight”

On May 25, 2024

The following names will appear on a plaque on the monument memorializing eight Exeter Union High School graduates who were killed in the Vietnam War.

(chronological order, by date of death):

  • Joe Lanell Meek – Class of 1964
    U.S. Amy, Specialist Fourth Class
    Killed in action: Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
    September 18, 1965 – Age 22
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California
  • Timothy David Ewing – Class of 1963
    U.S. Army, Private First Class
    Killed in action, Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
    December 17, 1966 – Age 21
    Burial: Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Colma, California
  • Frederick Alton Hitson – Class of 1963
    U.S. Amy, Specialist Fourth Class
    Killed in action, Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam
    March 11, 1967 – Age 21
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California
  • Eugene Petty – Class of 1964
    U.S. Army, Specialist Fifth Class
    Killed in action, Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam
    September 12, 1967 – Age 22
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California
  • Phillip Arthur Ogas – Class of 1963
    U.S. Army, Specialist Fifth Class
    Died while missing, Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
    November 30, 1967 – Age 22
    Burial: Lindsay – Strathmore Cemetery – Lindsay, California
  • Larry Jay Moore – Class of 1967
    U.S. Army, Private First Class
    March 13, 1968 – Age 19
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California
  • Daniel Eric Goldsmith – Class of 1965
    U.S. Army, Sergeant
    Killed in action, Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam
    May 26, 1968 – Age 20
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California
  • Terry Lee Ketter – Class of 1962
    U.S. Army, Captain
    Killed in action, unidentified Province, Cambodia
    May 10. 1970 – Age 25
    Burial: Exeter District Cemetery – Exeter, California

Vietnam Memorial Dedication Nov 11, 2011 at Joyner Park, Exeter, California

Photographs by David Ripper – Class of 1969