173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion member Larry Wayne Chaffin on guard duty at the Phouc Vinh airstrip

Chaffin had many problems adjusting to civilian life when he returned from Vietnam. He died at the age of 39 from complications that arose from diabetes, an ailment he might have contracted from exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. He died Dec. 3, 1985, and is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.