The Wall › Panel 3E › California › Ricardo Mesa
RICARDO MESA
Private · U.S. Marine Corps
December 10, 1945 – August 24, 1965
Service recordRicardo Mesa, of Los Angeles, California, served as a Private in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on August 24, 1965, in South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 3E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3E · Line 18
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private (PVT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Motor Vehicle Operator (3531)
- Born
- December 10, 1945
- Home of record
- Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 24, 1965
- Age
- 19
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
- Incident
- Airplane Crash Hong Kong To Danang Vs
Context · from the records
What was happening
61 names on the Wall carry the date August 24, 1965. In August 1965, 179 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in South Vietnam while Operation Starlite was under way. Operation Starlite (18–24 August 1965), on the Van Tuong peninsula south of Chu Lai, was the first regimental-size U.S. ground battle of the war. Marines attacked the 1st Viet Cong Regiment by helicopter, amphibious landing and on foot. The record gives the date and branch of service but not the exact place.
Also on Panel 3E, Line 18
- EDDIE LEE HILL JRCorporal · November 4, 1965
- ROY MARVIN HITT JRSergeant · November 4, 1965
- ROBERT LEE HURSTPrivate First Class · November 4, 1965
- JAMES HENRY JARZENSKISergeant · November 4, 1965
- CHAMP JACKSON LAWSON JRSpecialist Four · November 4, 1965
From Los Angeles
- JAMES WILLIAM MCNALLYTechnical Sergeant · October 23, 1963
- FRANK JOHN HOLGUINPrivate First Class · March 15, 1964
- RICHARD DEAN GOSSCaptain · August 29, 1964
- JOHN LOWERY MCCOYSergeant First Class · September 26, 1964
- JAMES HENRY MCLEANMaster Sergeant · February 9, 1965
- DWIGHT GLENN FRAKESChief Petty Officer · February 24, 1965
- AARON HAROLD WESTERNPrivate First Class · June 16, 1965
- EDWARD JAMES ANDERSPrivate First Class · June 18, 1965
- MAURICE RICHARD HILLPrivate · June 29, 1965
- WILLIAM WARREN HAILLieutenant Colonel · August 2, 1965
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.