Donald Justin Fonda was born January 19, 1933, in Mayfield, New York. He entered the Army young enough that by 1951 newspapers at home were already reporting his return from Korean combat.
During his first Korean tour, in 1950–1951, he served with Company C, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, as a gunner on a 57 mm recoilless-rifle team. He was wounded, spent time recovering in an Army hospital in Nagoya, Japan, and returned to the United States wearing the Combat Infantryman Badge and Korean campaign decorations.
Back to Korea
Fonda reenlisted rather than leaving the service. During 1952–1953 he served with Headquarters Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, where his work shifted toward communications and switchboard operations.
His later military career extended into the Vietnam era. Obituary material records communications work with the Mobile Riverine Force and service with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta region.
By retirement he had reached staff sergeant. His record therefore spans not one dramatic deployment but a sustained military life: two Korean combat tours, wounds and decorations, communications responsibilities, and later Vietnam service.
Sources and references
- “Pfc Donald Fonda” homecoming and Korean War service report, Morning Herald (Gloversville, N.Y.), 25 September 1951 (newspaper excerpt preserved in family research; original page/column unverified).
- “Donald J. Fonda,” death notice, The Times (Trenton, N.J.), 15 January 2010 (identity, veteran status and burial; full printed page not examined).