The Wall › Panel 18W › Georgia › Lonnie Vester Merchant
LONNIE VESTER MERCHANT
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
November 9, 1931 – September 9, 1969
Service recordLonnie Vester Merchant, of Hazlehurst, Georgia, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 9, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 37. His name is inscribed on Panel 18W, Line 62 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18W · Line 62
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Combat Engineer (12B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- November 9, 1931
- Home of record
- Hazlehurst, Georgia (Jeff Davis County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 9, 1969
- Age
- 37
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
16 names on the Wall carry the date September 9, 1969; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 48 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 18W, Line 62
- ANTHONY LEROY JENKINSStaff Sergeant · September 9, 1969
- GEORGE LEONARD METZGERLance Corporal · September 9, 1969
- DONALD EUGENE MOOREPrivate First Class · September 9, 1969
- JAMES RALPH MORROWPrivate First Class · September 9, 1969
Same unit, same day
- VICTOR PAUL CASSMEYER JRCorporal · Panel 18W, Line 60
- DONALD EUGENE MOOREPrivate First Class · Panel 18W, Line 62
- JAMES RALPH MORROWPrivate First Class · Panel 18W, Line 62
From Hazlehurst
- JESSE HOWARD HUGHESStaff Sergeant · January 15, 1966
- GEORGE EDWARD HATTENPrivate First Class · May 6, 1967
- JIMMY HENRY MERCERSergeant · July 26, 1970
- ROBERT WILBER TOLER JRStaff Sergeant · December 5, 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.