The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Donald Erwin Nelson.

The Wall › Panel 19W › Michigan › Donald Erwin Nelson

DONALD ERWIN NELSON

Corporal · U.S. Army

January 8, 1949 – August 26, 1969

Service record

Donald Erwin Nelson, of Wayne, Michigan, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on August 26, 1969, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 19W, Line 121 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 19W · Line 121

Position of Panel 19W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Corporal (CPL)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
196 LIGHT INF BDE
Born
January 8, 1949
Home of record
Wayne, Michigan (Wayne County)

Casualty

Date of death
August 26, 1969
Age
20
Province
Quang Tin
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Grenade

Context · from the records

What was happening

38 names on the Wall carry the date August 26, 1969; seven of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In August 1969, 962 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 74 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 19W, Line 121

Same unit, same day

From Wayne

All 15 names from Wayne →

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.