The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
An airman lights a candle during POW/MIA recognition week at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
An airman lights a candle during POW/MIA recognition week at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. Photo: A1C Aaron Jenne, U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of R D McDonell.

The Wall › Panel 4W › Texas › R D McDonell

R D MCDONELL

Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army

January 21, 1943 – March 25, 1971

Service record

R D McDonell, of Sweetwater, Texas, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 25, 1971, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 28. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 77 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 4W · Line 77

Position of Panel 4W 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

Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.

Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Staff Sergeant (SSG)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
Unit (as recorded)
AMERICAL DIV
Born
January 21, 1943
Home of record
Sweetwater, Texas (Nolan County)

Casualty

Date of death
March 25, 1971
Age
28
Province
Quang Tri
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

18 names on the Wall carry the date March 25, 1971; ten of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 50 of its members that month.

His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.

Also on Panel 4W, Line 77

Same unit, same day

From Sweetwater

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.