The Wall › Panel 37W › Minnesota › Melvin Douglas Nelson
MELVIN DOUGLAS NELSON
Sergeant · U.S. Army
August 2, 1943 – December 10, 1968
Service recordMelvin Douglas Nelson, of St Paul, Minnesota, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on December 10, 1968, in Kien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 37W, Line 83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37W · Line 83
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 (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- August 2, 1943
- Home of record
- St Paul, Minnesota (Ramsey County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 10, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Kien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
28 names on the Wall carry the date December 10, 1968; he was the only one lost in Kien Hoa Province that day. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 75 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 37W, Line 83
- DONALD FRANK MCKENZIEStaff Sergeant · December 10, 1968
- JOSE ANTONIO RUDONLance Corporal · December 10, 1968
- PEDRO SANCHEZ JRPrivate First Class · December 10, 1968
- BOBBY CLYDE SNYDERSergeant · December 10, 1968
Same unit, same day
- THOMAS TODD CHAPMANPrivate First Class · Panel 37W, Line 79
- GARY STEPHEN HODGESPrivate First Class · Panel 37W, Line 81
- LATHAN HOUSTONPrivate First Class · Panel 37W, Line 81
- BOBBY CLYDE SNYDERSergeant · Panel 37W, Line 83
From St Paul
- RAYMOND CHARLES WILDEChief Warrant Officer 2 · January 11, 1963
- DAVID MICHAEL HALBAUERStaff Sergeant · October 13, 1965
- JOHN CALVIN ELZY IIIPrivate First Class · November 16, 1965
- ROBERT E WALDVOGELSpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- ARLIN ROGER JENSENSpecialist Four · November 19, 1965
- JOHN WALTER WILSON JRPrivate First Class · December 10, 1965
- KALE ARLAN SOLBERGPrivate First Class · February 1, 1966
- JOSEPH SAMUEL HERRONPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- DAVID JOSEPH KERNPrivate First Class · April 1, 1966
- LAVERN GEORGE REILLYColonel · May 15, 1966
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.