HARMON, Carey Dean

Published by Today's News-Herald on May 25, 2015 Updated May 27, 2019 - Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Carey Dean Harmon (Gary Harmon) (From the Memories of Vietnam: Taking a look back at the Vietnam War series) SPC Carey Dean Harmon became the first soldier from Lake Havasu City to be Killed in Action in Vietnam, as a result of multiple fragmentation wounds at the age of 19, on April 26, 1968. Harmon was attached to the 26th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed The Blue Spaders. He was in Vietnam for three months and his unit was in the Binh Duong province of South Vietnam at the time he was killed. It is possible that he fought against the TET Offensive. During his first month in Vietnam. Harmon’s then girlfriend, Mary Fraze-DeWees who now lives in Prescott, knew him as Gary Harmon. She said she wanted to marry Harmon, but at 16, her father would have none of that. Fraze-DeWees said Gary planned on becoming a police officer once he got out of the Army. “He was very, very macho,” Mary said. “He was very manly but he was very loving and really eager for life.” The Lake Havasu City Herald on May 2, 1968, reported the death of Gary Dean Harmon on May 16, a thank you letter from his parents was printed and in it, his name was again Gary. Fraze-DeWees said Harmon’s grave epitaph said his name was Carey Dean Harmon, and she is unsure if the name has been corrected. Matt Hickman contributed to this story. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Published by Today's News-Herald on May 25, 2026 - Lake Havasu City, Arizona - (Front page article - "Remembering Lake Havasu City's Servicemen Killed in Action) Gary Dean Harmon Vietnam April 26, 1968 Harmon was greatly missed by his friends and family, passing on at only 19 years-old while fighting in the Vietnam War. This death had a tremendous affect on the young community, prompting then-president and general manager of McCulloch Properties, Frederic V. Schumacher, to donate transportation for the honor guard and pallbearers to Kingman for the burial. His parents, William and Chereva Harmon, asked that in lieu of flowers being sent to his funeral, donations would be made to the Gary Harmon Memorial Fund. That fund was created to build a humane shelter in Pvt. Harmon's honor.