The Wall › Panel 30W › California › Richard Dale Shields
RICHARD DALE SHIELDS
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
February 21, 1948 – March 9, 1969
Service recordRichard Dale Shields, of Bellflower, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 9, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 95 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30W · Line 95
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 First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Field Radio Operator (2531)
- Born
- February 21, 1948
- Home of record
- Bellflower, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 9, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
72 names on the Wall carry the date March 9, 1969; eight of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 30W, Line 95
- ROBERT B PROTTO JRStaff Sergeant · March 9, 1969
- ROBERT F REXCaptain · March 9, 1969
- BOBBY JOHN ROLLINSPrivate First Class · March 9, 1969
- DOUGLAS NOEL ROWECorporal · March 9, 1969
From Bellflower
- DUDLEY WAYNE MAYOSeaman · May 10, 1965
- FRED THOMAS EARLESPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- MICHAEL ANTHONY GOODENPrivate First Class · July 15, 1966
- BERRY JOE BRIDGESPrivate First Class · June 14, 1967
- JACK PATRICK COTTERELLSpecialist Four · January 25, 1968
- CHARLES CLAIR THOMPSONSpecialist Four · April 11, 1968
- DAVID JOE BERRYSpecialist Four · April 28, 1968
- TOMMY WAYNE JOHNSTONSpecialist Four · May 11, 1968
- ROBERT CLARENCE EWALDLance Corporal · June 18, 1968
- DONALD ACE PETTITTPrivate · December 13, 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.