The Wall › Panel 14E › Indiana › Bobby Joe Wilson
BOBBY JOE WILSON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
February 12, 1946 – January 12, 1967
Service recordBobby Joe Wilson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 12, 1967, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 14E, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 14E · Line 19
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- February 12, 1946
- Home of record
- Indianapolis, Indiana (Marion County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 12, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
30 names on the Wall carry the date January 12, 1967; 12 of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In January 1967, 638 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while Operation Cedar Falls was under way. Operation Cedar Falls (8–26 January 1967) sent some 30,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops into the “Iron Triangle” northwest of Saigon to destroy Viet Cong base areas and tunnels. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 14E, Line 19
- RONALD RA VANREGENMORTERCaptain · January 12, 1967
- HECTOR M ALCOCER-MARTINEZSergeant · January 13, 1967
- RAYMOND ALBERT BIZZELLSpecialist Four · January 13, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JACK LEE ALLENCorporal · Panel 14E, Line 13
- MANUEL BARRERAStaff Sergeant · Panel 14E, Line 13
- CHARLES WILLIAM JOHNSONStaff Sergeant · Panel 14E, Line 16
- CHARLES JOHN THOMAMajor · Panel 14E, Line 18
From Indianapolis
- JAMES EDWARD CAUGHEYSpecialist Four · August 14, 1964
- CLARENCE LEROY COLEMANSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- IVAN RAY SMITHPrivate First Class · May 13, 1965
- KENNETH LEROY REEDStaff Sergeant · June 12, 1965
- JOHN POWERS DAVISSpecialist Five · July 21, 1965
- CURLEY SHERELS JRCorporal · August 18, 1965
- ALVIN CARVER FORNEYCorporal · September 1, 1965
- WILLIAM LARRIE HUNTPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- THOMAS CURTIS METSKERCaptain · November 14, 1965
- VILIS LISMENTSCorporal · November 22, 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.