The Wall › Panel 36E › Indiana › David Owen Roberts
DAVID OWEN ROBERTS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
May 30, 1948 – January 31, 1968
Service recordDavid Owen Roberts, of Indianapolis, Indiana, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 33
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)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- May 30, 1948
- Home of record
- Indianapolis, Indiana (Marion County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 24 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 110 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 36E, Line 33
- ARTHUR JAMES ROBERTS JRPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- RONNIE RAY ROUSHSergeant First Class · January 31, 1968
- CLIFTON DOUGLAS ROYCorporal · January 31, 1968
- PILAR RAFAEL A RUIZ-DELStaff Sergeant · January 31, 1968
- WILLIAM MICHAEL SEBASTCorporal · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ARCHIE BURNETTE JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 35E, Line 89
- HAROLD EDWARD CASHMAN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 2
- WYATT CECIL GORDONSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 4
- GARY W HANNAWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 36E, Line 12
- LLOYD ALLEN HIMESSergeant Major · Panel 36E, Line 15
- RICHARD FALCON DELGADOSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 21
- WILLIAM ROBERT LEEWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 36E, Line 21
- DAVID LLOYD PARKERSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 29
- DAMON LIGOURI RITCHIECorporal · Panel 36E, Line 32
- CLIFTON DOUGLAS ROYCorporal · Panel 36E, Line 33
- DAVID LEE TURNERCorporal · Panel 36E, Line 40
- MELVIN JOE WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 42
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.