The Wall › Panel 64E › Alabama › John Hartley Robertson
JOHN HARTLEY ROBERTSON
Master Sergeant · U.S. Army
October 25, 1936 – May 20, 1968
Service recordJohn Hartley Robertson, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was lost on May 20, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 64E, Line 8 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 64E · Line 8
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
- Master Sergeant (MSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Senior Sergeant (11G)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- October 25, 1936
- Home of record
- Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 20, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date May 20, 1968. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 24 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 64E, Line 8
- MICHAEL DAVIS REEVESCorporal · May 20, 1968
- TOMMIE ALLEN ROLFWarrant Officer 1 · May 20, 1968
- DARYL LADON STITHCorporal · May 20, 1968
- RONALD GAIL SWAIMHospitalman · May 20, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM CLAY BAERSergeant · Panel 64E, Line 2
- ROBERT DEAN PLATOMaster Sergeant · Panel 64E, Line 7
From Birmingham
- SHERMAN ELLIOT WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · July 9, 1965
- CARL WILLIAM MANNPrivate First Class · September 21, 1965
- ROBERT WARREN ALLENPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- GENE WILLIAM WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · October 12, 1965
- JAMES J HOWARDSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- CLEO LOCKETTCorporal · November 8, 1965
- HAROLD JAMES BATTLEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1965
- HAROLD EUGENE WATKINSLance Corporal · November 12, 1965
- CHARLES WILLIAM STOREYStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD EARL HARPERSpecialist Four · January 12, 1966
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.