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 Joseph R Sweda.

The Wall › Panel 2E › New York › Joseph R Sweda

JOSEPH R SWEDA

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

November 7, 1944 – October 25, 1965

Service record

Joseph R Sweda, of Gowanda, New York, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 25, 1965, in South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 134 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 2E · Line 134

Position of Panel 2E 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
Heavy Anti-Armor Weapons Infantryman (11H)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
November 7, 1944
Home of record
Gowanda, New York (Cattaraugus County)

Casualty

Date of death
October 25, 1965
Age
20
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Illness
Circumstance
Infectious Disease

Context · from the records

What was happening

Five names on the Wall carry the date October 25, 1965. In October 1965, 236 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 18 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 2E, Line 134

From Gowanda

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.