Randy Lee Mast

Randy Lee Mast was raised in Marshall County and graduated from Beaman-Conrad High School in Conrad. After high school he worked for the Merchants National Bank in Cedar Rapids. He was drafted by the Army in March 1969 and trained as a cannon crewman and served in an artillery unit. SGT Mast started his 12-month tour in February 1970 with the 101st Airborne Division in the Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. The young Iowan was killed on June 5, 1970 while on a combat operation when he accidentally detonated an enemy booby trap. SGT Mast was 21 years old at the time of his death. His body was returned to Iowa and laid to rest at the Rose Hill Memorial Gardens in Marshalltown. Mast was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.