The Wall › Panel 40E › Minnesota › Richard James Vonasek
RICHARD JAMES VONASEK
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
July 20, 1949 – February 18, 1968
Service recordRichard James Vonasek, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 18, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 15
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
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- July 20, 1949
- Home of record
- East Grand Forks, Minnesota (Polk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
85 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam 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 40E, Line 15
- VINCENT MICHAEL SORANNOSergeant · February 18, 1968
- WILLIAM JOSEPH THORNHILLSergeant · February 18, 1968
- JOSEPH PARKHILL TURNBULLCorporal · February 18, 1968
- LUKAS JOHN VENTLINESpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
From East Grand Forks
- KENNETH JEROME HONEKCorporal · April 3, 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.