The Wall › Panel 42E › Michigan › Richard James Groat
RICHARD JAMES GROAT
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 11, 1946 – February 29, 1968
Service recordRichard James Groat, of Port Huron, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 5
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
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- December 11, 1946
- Home of record
- Port Huron, Michigan (St Clair County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 168 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle 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.
Also on Panel 42E, Line 5
- CROSLEY JAMES FITTON JRLieutenant Colonel · February 29, 1968
- HARRY IVAN FUQUA JRPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- PHILIP F GREENESpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- JAMES CARL MCPHEARSONPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- PHILIP F GREENESpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 5
- MICHAEL EMMETT MARTINSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 7
- EDWARD EUGENE MCCLELLANSergeant · Panel 42E, Line 8
- OTIS LEE NICKPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 8
- LARRY PRESTON TYSONSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 11
- WILLIAM ROY WATTFirst Lieutenant · Panel 42E, Line 12
From Port Huron
- DONALD LEE NELSONSpecialist Five · May 5, 1964
- KENNETH DALE MIDDLETONSpecialist Four · February 28, 1966
- JOHN J BAILEYPrivate First Class · January 10, 1967
- JOHN FREDERICK ANTHONYCorporal · February 1, 1967
- WILLIAM EDWARD PERRYLance Corporal · May 8, 1967
- CHRISTOPHER JAMES OLEKSASpecialist Four · May 11, 1967
- JACK EDWIN TELLINGPrivate First Class · September 4, 1967
- GEORGE PATRICK BARRETTCorporal · October 27, 1967
- JOHN LEE KOEBKESpecialist Four · April 19, 1968
- RICKEY LEE CHRANLance Corporal · April 27, 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.