The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967.
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967. Photo: PFC Franklin G. Nickerson, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Douglas Brian Kent.

The Wall › Panel 5W › California › Douglas Brian Kent

DOUGLAS BRIAN KENT

Sergeant · U.S. Army

June 15, 1951 – January 5, 1971

Service record

Douglas Brian Kent, of West Covina, California, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 5, 1971, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 27 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 5W · Line 27

Position of Panel 5W 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
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Aircraft Powertrain Repairer (68D)
Unit (as recorded)
1 AVN BDE
Born
June 15, 1951
Home of record
West Covina, California (Los Angeles County)

Casualty

Date of death
January 5, 1971
Age
19
Province
Pleiku
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)

Context · from the records

What was happening

13 names on the Wall carry the date January 5, 1971; three of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In January 1971, 259 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 5W, Line 27

Same unit, same day

From West Covina

All 12 names from West Covina →

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.