The Wall › Panel 38E › Oregon › Richard Fred Cavanaugh
RICHARD FRED CAVANAUGH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
June 9, 1947 – February 8, 1968
Service recordRichard Fred Cavanaugh, of Portland, Oregon, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 8, 1968, in Kien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 19
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- June 9, 1947
- Home of record
- Portland, Oregon (Multnomah County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 8, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
114 names on the Wall carry the date February 8, 1968; he was the only one lost in Kien Hoa Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 61 of its members that month.
He died in Kien Hoa Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 38E, Line 19
- ALGER LAWRENCE WHITE JRSpecialist Five · February 7, 1968
- ROY EDWARD WORTHWarrant Officer 1 · February 7, 1968
- EVERETT ALBERT WYATT JRSergeant First Class · February 7, 1968
- ROBERT LEO YORKPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT DEAN FLEERCaptain · Panel 38E, Line 27
- ROBERT ALAN LABUDAPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 31
- GLENN DOUGLAS MOOREWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 38E, Line 33
From Portland
- RICHARD DALE BENZELSergeant First Class · December 6, 1962
- GEORGE WILLIAM WATSONSpecialist Five · December 18, 1963
- HAROLD JAMES ROBERTS JRMaster Sergeant · June 18, 1965
- TYRRELL GORDON LOWRYCaptain · June 18, 1965
- WILLIAM JOHN LAGRANDChief Warrant Officer 2 · September 5, 1965
- LARRY ALAN LINDSEYPrivate First Class · September 6, 1965
- DONALD WALTER LOVETTSpecialist Four · December 8, 1965
- DAVID JOHN BYSTEDTLance Corporal · January 11, 1966
- RAYMOND EARL BROWNLance Corporal · January 12, 1966
- JAMES LEE GARDNERCorporal · February 2, 1966
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.