The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Richard Allan Havlik.

The Wall › Panel 20W › Iowa › Richard Allan Havlik

RICHARD ALLAN HAVLIK

Private First Class · U.S. Army

January 19, 1949 – July 19, 1969

Service record

Richard Allan Havlik, of Elma, Iowa, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on July 19, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 20W, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 20W · Line 20

Position of Panel 20W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
January 19, 1949
Home of record
Elma, Iowa (Howard County)

Casualty

Date of death
July 19, 1969
Age
20
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

38 names on the Wall carry the date July 19, 1969; seven of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In July 1969, 834 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 101 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 20W, Line 20

Same unit, same day

From Elma

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.