The Wall › Panel 24W › Michigan › Dewey Russell Decker
DEWEY RUSSELL DECKER
Petty Officer Third Class · U.S. Navy
July 11, 1947 – May 15, 1969
Service recordDewey Russell Decker, of Ionia, Michigan, served as a Petty Officer Third Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on May 15, 1969, in Chuong Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 24W, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24W · Line 15
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. Navy
- Rank
- Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Engineman (EN)
- Unit (as recorded)
- USNAVFORV
- Born
- July 11, 1947
- Home of record
- Ionia, Michigan (Ionia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 15, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Chuong Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
50 names on the Wall carry the date May 15, 1969; he was the only one lost in Chuong Thien Province that day. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “USNAVFORV”, his unit in the record, lost 8 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 24W, Line 15
- EMMETT RUBEN BROWNLance Corporal · May 15, 1969
- JAMES THOMAS COBLESergeant · May 15, 1969
- JUAN LEONARDO CONTRERASPrivate First Class · May 15, 1969
- WALTER EMERSON DAVISSpecialist Four · May 15, 1969
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD WILLIAM STINDLPetty Officer Third Class · Panel 24W, Line 22
From Ionia
- TERRY ALLEN TOWNESergeant · October 4, 1968
- ROBERT MARK WALKLEYLance Corporal · March 24, 1969
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.