The Wall › Panel 15W › California › Dennis Patrick Poelstra
DENNIS PATRICK POELSTRA
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
June 17, 1948 – December 14, 1969
Service recordDennis Patrick Poelstra, of Indio, California, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on December 14, 1969, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 15W, Line 56 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 15W · Line 56
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
- Light Air Defense Artillery Crewmember (16F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 92 FIELD FORCE
- Born
- June 17, 1948
- Home of record
- Indio, California (Riverside County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 14, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date December 14, 1969; two of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In December 1969, 509 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “92 FIELD FORCE”, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 15W, Line 56
- LARRY RICHARD JOHNSONPetty Officer First Class · December 14, 1969
- KENNETH LLOYD MARSHANDSergeant · December 14, 1969
- PAUL CHARLES MEDLINSecond Lieutenant · December 14, 1969
- GREGG A NEWELLSergeant · December 14, 1969
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT THOMAS RUSSELL IIPrivate First Class · Panel 15W, Line 57
From Indio
- GERALD WILLIAM BAYLESSergeant · June 1, 1966
- TERRY JAMES ALLENPrivate First Class · May 2, 1967
- WALTER JOHN PETERSPrivate First Class · January 4, 1968
- ROBERT CHAGOYA LIRAPrivate First Class · April 5, 1969
- GERALD BLAINE SINGLETONStaff Sergeant · July 22, 1970
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.