In Memory of U.S. Army Private First Class
Howard Elmer Drain was born September 7, 1952, in Hot
Springs, South Dakota, to Howard and Grace (Webb) Drain. He
had two sisters, Ivy and Dawn. Elmer attended schools in
Custer and Pringle, South Dakota, where he enlisted in the
Army before he graduated. He liked to write poems, play the
guitar, and he loved animals. He was employed at Custer
Theater and in the summers, he worked at the Forest Service.
According to Elmer’s sister, Ivy, “Elmer was tall, quiet,
and very kind. He was known to family and friends as ‘Fuddy.’
He loved corn on the cob, and wanted to come back home and
work in forestry.”
Elmer enlisted in the service on January 6, 1971, in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, during high school. After basic
training, he was sent to Vietnam to serve on September 14,
1971. PFC Drain was a member of Troop F, 9th Cavalry, 3rd
Brigade, and 1st Cavalry Division.
PFC Drain wrote a letter to his sister, Ivy, in November
of 1971. It reads:
Rain, cold, locked [illegible] and in
mud up to your Alpha! Thanksgiving is over with and I
had a fun time with a C-ration. The 101st should be
standing down soon. I was hoping to go home with them
but looks like I’ll get transferred to another unit.
Which means I’ll probably lose my jump pay. Well I hope
every- thing is going along real fine back home. Have
you been down to see the folks? Bet they’re really hard
to catch since they got that new pick up. I’m out at the
Observation Post Apollo now; [I] live in this culvert
you can’t even stand up in! I don’t really mind it
‘cause like I don’t have to get my hair cut and I try
and grow a beard. Also nobody hassles Pathfinders and I
don’t have to pull any details. I haven’t pulled K.P.
(kitchen patrol) for about 6 months now! All I do is
give weather reports and talk on the radio. Well keep
your head straight, and don’t let ‘em get you down. Love
and peace.
Private First Class Howard Elmer Drain died on March 17,
1972, as the result of a helicopter crash into a river near
Da Nang, Vietnam. His body was found ten days later and
returned home, and buried with military honors in Black
Hills National Cemetery. He was awarded the Bronze Star
Medal, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. His father,
Howard, died three months later, and they are buried two
graves apart. James T. Fazer, a fellow solider wrote a
comment about PFC Drain on March 17, 2002. It reads: “Too
long, too hard, too young.”
The current survivor of PFC Drain is his older sister,
Ivy Little, of Hot Springs, South Dakota. In closing, Ivy
had these words about her little brother: “Elmer had 80 days
left to serve and he could have come home. Sadly he was
killed – love and miss him terribly!”
Memorial marker photo and Vietnam Wall (DC) photo by Mrs.
Hansen
This entry was respectfully submitted by Emily Bauer, 8th
grade, Spearfish Middle School, February 9, 2006. The
information was provided by Ivy Little, sister, in Hot
Springs, South Dakota, the Vietnam Veterans Bonus
Application, and
http://www.vvmf.org. Profile approval by Ivy Little.
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