The Wall › Panel 51W › South Dakota › Lester Arthur Watson
LESTER ARTHUR WATSON
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
August 22, 1937 – July 20, 1968
Service recordLester Arthur Watson, of Sturgis, South Dakota, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on July 20, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 51W, Line 22 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 51W · Line 22
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Second Lieutenant (2NDLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Basic Infantry Officer (0301)
- Born
- August 22, 1937
- Home of record
- Sturgis, South Dakota (Meade County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 20, 1968
- Age
- 30
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
36 names on the Wall carry the date July 20, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In July 1968, 993 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Also on Panel 51W, Line 22
- PATRICK AUGUSTINE MCKENNAPetty Officer Second Class · July 15, 1968
- JAMES ARTHUR STELLCorporal · July 20, 1968
- GEORGE ALBERT TODDSergeant · July 20, 1968
- MICHAEL RAY WILEYLance Corporal · July 20, 1968
- DENNIS HAROLD WIRTPrivate First Class · July 20, 1968
From Sturgis
- RICHARD RAY MAYNARDSergeant · March 20, 1969
- DONALD WARREN OLLILASergeant · June 8, 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.