The Wall › Panel 33W › New Jersey › Rafael Melendez
RAFAEL MELENDEZ
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 22, 1947 – February 6, 1969
Service recordRafael Melendez, of Hammonton, New Jersey, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 6, 1969, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 33W, Line 72 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 33W · Line 72
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- December 22, 1947
- Home of record
- Hammonton, New Jersey (Atlantic County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 6, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Dinh Tuong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
24 names on the Wall carry the date February 6, 1969; four of them were lost in Định Tường Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 85 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 33W, Line 72
- TERRENCE PATRICK KILBANECorporal · February 6, 1969
- JOHN VINCENT KUCHTALance Corporal · February 6, 1969
- WILLIAM STEPHEN OGDENSpecialist Four · February 6, 1969
- ROBERT CHARLES OHARASergeant First Class · February 6, 1969
Same unit, same day
- JAMES THOMAS DOUGLASSergeant First Class · Panel 33W, Line 71
- DENNIS MEVES KEITHSpecialist Four · Panel 33W, Line 71
- MISTER REDDIX JRPrivate First Class · Panel 33W, Line 73
- TROY NELSON SITTONPrivate First Class · Panel 33W, Line 74
- RODNEY DALE WISESpecialist Four · Panel 33W, Line 75
From Hammonton
- GEORGE ABRAHAM DELUCAMaster Sergeant · August 13, 1965
- ROBERT JOSEPH DOUGHERTYPrivate First Class · June 21, 1967
- DONALD ERNEST HEGGANFirst Lieutenant · July 20, 1968
- GERARD VINCENT PALMACaptain · April 19, 1969
- CARL STEVEN MERLINOMajor · October 14, 1971
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.