Virgil Martin Bixby

Virgil Martin Bixby grew up in Washington County, IA and graduated from Highland Community High School in Riverside. After graduation, he got married and worked as a truck driver for Iowa Lumber Company in Iowa City. In September 1960 Bixby was drafted into the Army. Earning the rank of Private First Class, he arrived in South Vietnam in April, 1970. PFC Bixby served as an Infantryman with the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division. On July 22, 1970, PFC Bixby was killed in action when his unit was overrun while on a night patrol during the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam. Posthumously promoted to Corporal, he was survived by an infant daughter he never met. A funeral mass was held on August 1 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Iowa City, and his body was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery.