The Wall › Panel 53E › Minnesota › Donald Lee Peterson
DONALD LEE PETERSON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
July 7, 1949 – April 30, 1968
Service recordDonald Lee Peterson, of Fridley, Minnesota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 30, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 53E, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 53E · Line 21
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- July 7, 1949
- Home of record
- Fridley, Minnesota (Anoka County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 30, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
87 names on the Wall carry the date April 30, 1968; nine of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 189 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 53E, Line 21
- ELMER JOSEPH PERRY JRSergeant · April 30, 1968
- NORMAN IRA PHIPPSPrivate First Class · April 30, 1968
- ROBERT EDWARD PIETSCHLieutenant Colonel · April 30, 1968
- SOREN PRIPLance Corporal · April 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LARRY EUGENE LUTZPrivate First Class · Panel 53E, Line 17
- ARIE TERRYCorporal · Panel 53E, Line 24
From Fridley
- JAMES WALTER MILLERPrivate First Class · January 2, 1968
- DUANE WILLARD NYBLOMPrivate First Class · May 15, 1969
- DUANE CLIFFORD LARSONSpecialist Four · February 4, 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.