The Wall › Panel 45E › Georgia › Richard James Grooms
RICHARD JAMES GROOMS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
April 2, 1943 – March 17, 1968
Service recordRichard James Grooms, of Atlanta, Georgia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 17, 1968, in Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 11 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 11
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- April 2, 1943
- Home of record
- Atlanta, Georgia (Fulton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 17, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Phu Yen
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
48 names on the Wall carry the date March 17, 1968; he was the only one lost in Phu Yen Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Phu Yen 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 45E, Line 11
- DAVID LIVINGSTONE GROVESSpecialist Four · March 17, 1968
- JOHN JAMES HARRISCorporal · March 17, 1968
- LEON HENDERSONPrivate First Class · March 17, 1968
- THOMAS TRUETT HENSLEYMajor · March 17, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES GUY BLACKSHEARSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 8
- DANIEL LEE BURRSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 8
- PATRICK JOSEPH TREMBLAYPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 16
From Atlanta
- DAVID NIPPERLance Corporal · November 21, 1964
- JAMES ANTHONY COYAirman First Class · June 11, 1965
- JAMES THARPE BROWN JRPrivate First Class · June 25, 1965
- WESLIE DAVID MEWBORNPetty Officer First Class · September 8, 1964
- DOUGLAS HORACE LEACHSpecialist Four · November 15, 1965
- RONNIE THOMAS MATHISSergeant · November 17, 1965
- GEORGE S MCHELLONSpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- JAMES CARL WISE JRMajor · December 23, 1965
- CLIFFORD THOMAS JOHNSONPrivate · January 29, 1966
- HARVEY LEWIS BOWEN JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 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.