The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967.
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of John Robert Vinnedge.

The Wall › Panel 17W › Michigan › John Robert Vinnedge

JOHN ROBERT VINNEDGE

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

February 21, 1950 – October 5, 1969

Service record

John Robert Vinnedge, of Niles, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 5, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 17W · Line 44

Position of Panel 17W 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
Specialist Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic (63B)
Unit (as recorded)
1 SIGNAL BDE
Born
February 21, 1950
Home of record
Niles, Michigan (Berrien County)

Casualty

Date of death
October 5, 1969
Age
19
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Drowning

Context · from the records

What was happening

28 names on the Wall carry the date October 5, 1969; he was the only one lost in Thừa Thiên Province that day. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “1 SIGNAL BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 17W, Line 44

From Niles

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.