The Wall › Panel 43W › New York › Lester Earl Ropeter
LESTER EARL ROPETER
Private First Class · U.S. Army
February 1, 1948 – September 19, 1968
Service recordLester Earl Ropeter, of Ft Plain, New York, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 19, 1968, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43W, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43W · Line 42
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Carpentry And Masonry Specialist (51B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- D CO 589 ENG BN 35 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE
- Born
- February 1, 1948
- Home of record
- Ft Plain, New York (Montgomery County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 19, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Vehicle Crash (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date September 19, 1968; eight of them were lost in Bình Định Province. In September 1968, 1,184 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “D CO 589 ENG BN 35 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 43W, Line 42
- JAMES CHESTER SCHULTZCorporal · September 19, 1968
- JAMES CHARLES DAN SIMMONSLance Corporal · September 19, 1968
- JOHNNY CLEVELAND SIMPSONCorporal · September 19, 1968
- EDGAR ARMSTRONG SMITHCorporal · September 19, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD L SPARKSSpecialist Four · Panel 43W, Line 43
From Ft Plain
- JOHN BERNARD HOGANPetty Officer Third Class · February 15, 1968
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.