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 Paul John Damato JR.

The Wall › Panel 5W › Massachusetts › Paul John Damato JR

PAUL JOHN DAMATO JR

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

January 14, 1949 – December 24, 1970

Service record

Paul John Damato JR, of Agawam, Massachusetts, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on December 24, 1970, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 5W · Line 4

Position of Panel 5W 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
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
January 14, 1949
Home of record
Agawam, Massachusetts (Hampden County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 24, 1970
Age
21
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Other Accident

Context · from the records

What was happening

18 names on the Wall carry the date December 24, 1970; nine of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In December 1970, 271 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 32 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 5W, Line 4

Same unit, same day

From Agawam

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.