Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, January 06, 1966
Page One

A 19-year-old Kellerton youth is Ringgold County's first fatality in the Viet Nam combat.

Pfc. Charles E[dward]. Sissel died December 29, of wounds inflicted by fragments of steel during hostile action, according to a telegram received Thursday from the Department of Defense by his mother, Mrs. Eddie Giles of Kellerton. The telegram stated that he had been hospitalized, but no details of the action in which he was wounded while serving with Company A 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Division, were given.

Sissel enlisted in the army on February 11, 1964, before completing his senior year in the Grand Valley High School. Since entering service, he pursued courses of study incident to being awarded a high school diploma.

The body of the young soldier will be flown from Viet Nam to the States and will arrive Friday afternoon in Creston. Military services will be held January 8, at 2 p.m., from the Rhoades Funeral Home in Mount Ayr and interment will be in Rose Hill Cemetery at Mount Ayr. Those who survive are his widow, Sharon; his stepfather and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Giles; one sister, Ethel Sissel, and a brother, Tommy Sissel (sic, should be Giles), of the home, and a brother, James Sissel, of Creston.

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, February 17, 1966, Page One

 The Purple Heart, awarded posthumously to Pfc. Charles E. Sissel, was presented to his widow, Sharon Sissel, of Kellerton, Friday in Des Moines by Col. Chester H. Dunning.

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, September 08, 1966, Page One

The military merit medal and gallantry cross with palms has been awarded posthumously to Pfc. Charles E. Sissel, Ringgold County's first fatality in the Viet Nam conflict.

The young soldier's widow, Mrs. Sharon Sissel of Kellerton, will be presented the medals during a ceremony to be held in the near future.

A son of Mrs. Eddie Giles, of Kellerton, Sissel, 19, died December 29, 1965, of wounds inflicted by fragments of shrapnel during hostile action, while serving with Company A, 2nd Battery 16 Infantry Division.

Sissel enlisted in the army on Feb. 24, 1964, before completing his senior year at the Grand Valley High School. After entering service, he pursued courses of study incident to being awarded a high school diploma.

The body of Sissel was flown from Viet Nam to the States,and funeral services were held Jan. 8 from the Rhoades Funeral Home. Interment was in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Mount Ayr.

Page Update & Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, April of 2014