The Wall › Panel 42W › Indiana › Donald Edward Erwin
DONALD EDWARD ERWIN
Commander · U.S. Navy
January 1, 1929 – October 2, 1968
Service recordDonald Edward Erwin, of Hobart, Indiana, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on October 2, 1968, in North Vietnam, at age 39. His name is inscribed on Panel 42W, Line 61 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42W · Line 61
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
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Born
- January 1, 1929
- Home of record
- Hobart, Indiana (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 2, 1968
- Age
- 39
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date October 2, 1968. In October 1968, 821 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 42W, Line 61
- JOSE D MELENDEZ-GONZALEZPrivate First Class · October 1, 1968
- RUDY EDEJER EAYCorporal · October 2, 1968
- EARL B ESTEP JRTechnical Sergeant · October 2, 1968
- JAMES AUGUSTUS HOLLISSpecialist Four · October 2, 1968
From Hobart
- JOHN WILLIAM LAKECorporal · August 24, 1965
- GORDON SCOTT WILSONMajor · November 22, 1966
- CLIFFORD C BARNETT JRFirst Lieutenant · April 26, 1967
- LARRY DANIEL DRAVESPrivate First Class · May 2, 1967
- FRED W CARPENTERSergeant · June 28, 1967
- STEVEN JAMES MULLETPrivate First Class · July 21, 1967
- JUNIOR R BURNSPlatoon Sergeant · October 16, 1967
- RALF IRVIN SAUNDERSCorporal · November 6, 1967
- CHARLES HUBERT STANLEYFirst Lieutenant · February 27, 1968
- WILLIAM BRACE CAWLEY JRSpecialist Four · March 2, 1968
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.