The Wall › Panel 24E › Texas › Ray Augustine Chatelain
RAY AUGUSTINE CHATELAIN
Seaman · U.S. Navy
May 6, 1946 – July 30, 1967
Service recordRay Augustine Chatelain, of Tenaha, Texas, served as a Seaman in the U.S. Navy. He died on July 30, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 24E, Line 50 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24E · Line 50
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. Navy
- Rank
- Seaman (SN)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Seaman (SN)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 7 FLT
- Born
- May 6, 1946
- Home of record
- Tenaha, Texas (Shelby County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 30, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Ship/Submarine Accident At Sea (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
16 names on the Wall carry the date July 30, 1967. In July 1967, 1,057 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “7 FLT”, his unit in the record, lost 104 of its members that month.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
Also on Panel 24E, Line 50
- JERRY GORDON WRIGHTPrivate First Class · July 29, 1967
- ROBERT LYNN BISCAILUZLance Corporal · July 30, 1967
- EARNEST RAY BYARSLance Corporal · July 30, 1967
- GEORGE FRANCIS CATALANOPrivate First Class · July 30, 1967
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.