Dennis William Bingham

Dennis William Bingham moved to Lucas County as a young man and graduated Chariton Community High School as an honors student in the class of 1965. He went on to graduate from Centerville Community College in 1967. Bingham enlisted in the Army in early 1968. He trained at Fort Gordon, GA and Fort Benning, GA. He earned the Green Beret in October 1968. Bingham deployed to Southeast Asia in April 1969 with a Special Forces unit. He was based at Kontum headquarters on the Cambodia border 50 miles north of Saigon. On July 17, 1969 his unit was conducting a secret operation inside the country of Laos. SP4 Bingham operated the radio during the mission. The troops engaged enemy forces and needed extracted via helicopter from their location. While directing in a friendly helicopter SP4 Bingham was fatally wounded. The 21-year-old’s body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Chariton Cemetery.