The Wall › Panel 45E › Michigan › Alan Richard Roberts
ALAN RICHARD ROBERTS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 23, 1947 – March 20, 1968
Service recordAlan Richard Roberts, of Detroit, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 20, 1968, in Darlac Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 42
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- December 23, 1947
- Home of record
- Detroit, Michigan (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 20, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Darlac
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date March 20, 1968; seven of them were lost in Darlac Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 68 of its members that month.
He died in Darlac Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 45E, Line 42
- JAMES ALAN PATTONSergeant · March 20, 1968
- GARY DEWAYNE REEDSergeant · March 20, 1968
- MARION NELSON SALTZPrivate First Class · March 20, 1968
- FRANKLIN A SAPPINGFIELDSpecialist Four · March 20, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROY M ALEXANDERPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 37
- ALAN GEORGE BARETTIPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 37
- GEORGE DWAYNE BARRETTPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 37
- JAMES ELTON FISHERPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 39
- RUFUS Q HENDERSONSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 40
- GARY DEWAYNE REEDSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 42
- MARION NELSON SALTZPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 42
From Detroit
- SAMUEL EUGENE HURDAirman Third Class · January 3, 1964
- LEO BERT ABRAMOSKICaptain · July 28, 1964
- GEORGE PAUL ZUPANCICCorporal · June 26, 1965
- MARSHALL DANIEL HOLMANPrivate First Class · July 9, 1965
- ELIAS BELL JRCorporal · July 13, 1965
- ARTHUR F HAMMARSTROM JRLieutenant Colonel · July 24, 1965
- JAMES THOMAS CLARKPrivate · August 17, 1965
- BRUCE JAMES HENRICHPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- ROBERT TAGLIONESergeant · August 18, 1965
- MERRILL LAGENE LANTRYCorporal · September 2, 1965
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.