Hometown: West Bend, WI
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Company B, 16th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Division
Military Honors: Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: August 27, 1968 - KIA in Bình Dương province, South Vietnam
Age: 20 
Conflict: Vietnam War, 1959-1975

His high school band director referred to Glenn Dean as “one of the finest trumpet players in the history of the school.” After graduating from West Bend (Wisconsin) High School in 1966, Dean attended Wisconsin State University – Oshkosh, an hour’s drive north of his West Bend hometown.

While in high school and after graduating, Dean’s love for music extended to playing in a local rock cover band, “the Sandmen.” He was the lead singer, and the band developed a strong following in local taverns, covering the popular hits of the late 1960s.

A friend of Dean’s, Frank Schoenbeck, recounts: “Blood, Sweat & Tears was going on at the time, so he had played some trumpet to their songs, but there weren’t enough songs to always play trumpet. So, he’d break it out when he could, and in between, he’d play air guitar because he thought people would expect him to do something up there. He had his guitar that was never plugged in, it was our inside joke.”

In May 1967, just a year out of high school, Glenn Dean was drafted to serve in the military. He was deployed to Vietnam and served as a squad leader with Company B, 16th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. Famously known as the “Big Red One” because of its gaudy shoulder patch, the 1st Infantry Division is the oldest continuously serving division in the U.S. Army.

Promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Dean served courageously in combat in South Vietnam’s Bình Dương province. While on patrol, his squad was ambushed and split up. Sgt. Dean was left in an exposed position and was mortally wounded by small-arms fire.

Just over four months into his Vietnam tour, Sgt. Dean died of his wounds in a military medical facility. He was 20 years old. For his bravery, Dean was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Purple Heart medals.

Sgt. Glenn Fredrick Dean was returned home and laid to rest near his hometown, West Bend, Wisconsin. He is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., with his name inscribed on Panel 46W, Line 39.

Sources
Details submitted by Mr. Scott Mindel, West Bend East High School
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Wall of Faces: Glenn Frederick Dean
Media Milwaukee: Glenn Fredrick Dean: One of the Best Trumpet Players They’d Ever Heard
First Division Museum: First in Combat
The Sheboygan Press, Sep. 4, 1968: Obituaries, Sgt. Glenn Dean
Burial Site: Find a Grave