The Wall › Panel 59E › Michigan › Ralph Roland Black
RALPH ROLAND BLACK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
July 31, 1945 – May 13, 1968
Service recordRalph Roland Black, of Crystal Falls, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on May 13, 1968, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 59E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 59E · Line 17
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
- Multichannel Transmission Systems (31M)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- July 31, 1945
- Home of record
- Crystal Falls, Michigan (Iron County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 13, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
101 names on the Wall carry the date May 13, 1968; 26 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 103 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 59E, Line 17
- JOSEPH ADAMSSergeant · May 13, 1968
- SHERMAN C BRADYPrivate First Class · May 13, 1968
- SAMMY L BREWERPrivate First Class · May 13, 1968
- OLLIS BREWSTERStaff Sergeant · May 13, 1968
Same unit, same day
- SAMUEL GERALD CONNELLYPrivate First Class · Panel 59E, Line 19
- TOMMY LEE HANKISONSpecialist Four · Panel 59E, Line 22
- FREDDIE LEE JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 59E, Line 24
- FRANK JOSEPH MAKUHSpecialist Four · Panel 59E, Line 26
- TIMOTHY JOSEPH NODENSergeant · Panel 59E, Line 28
From Crystal Falls
- JOHN W JACOBSON SRSpecialist Four · July 30, 1968
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.