The Wall › Panel 47E › Texas › Rafael Martinez
RAFAEL MARTINEZ
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 31, 1949 – March 29, 1968
Service recordRafael Martinez, of Edinburg, Texas, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 29, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 2
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Light Vehicle Driver (64A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- August 31, 1949
- Home of record
- Edinburg, Texas (Hidalgo County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 29, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date March 29, 1968; three of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 188 of its members that month.
He died in Hua Nghia Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 47E, Line 2
- NORMAN EDWARD LANE JRFirst Lieutenant · March 29, 1968
- JOSEPH LASZLOWarrant Officer 1 · March 29, 1968
- JOHN LEVINTHOL JRSpecialist Four · March 29, 1968
- JOSE MEDRANO JRCorporal · March 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- MICHAEL ALLEN ROSEFirst Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 5
- MICHAEL LEE SLOANSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 6
From Edinburg
- HOMERO ELIUD TIJERINALance Corporal · July 4, 1966
- TEODORO DAVILAStaff Sergeant · April 28, 1967
- JOSE MANUEL GOMEZLance Corporal · May 4, 1967
- VICTORIANO ESPINOZA JRPrivate · January 9, 1968
- ALFREDO GONZALEZSergeant · February 4, 1968
- NOLAN LESTER SIMMONSLance Corporal · February 6, 1968
- FLORENTINO MARTINEZ JRCorporal · November 25, 1968
- JUAN LEONARDO CONTRERASPrivate First Class · May 15, 1969
- NOE TAMEZSpecialist Four · June 17, 1969
- JAIME ARTURO SALINASLance Corporal · July 23, 1969
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.