The Wall › Panel 41E › Ohio › Richard James Wilt
RICHARD JAMES WILT
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
October 20, 1948 – February 26, 1968
Service recordRichard James Wilt, of Holland, Ohio, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 26, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 46
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 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- October 20, 1948
- Home of record
- Holland, Ohio (Lucas County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 26, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
63 names on the Wall carry the date February 26, 1968; 15 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 41E, Line 46
- ROBERT LEE WATTSSergeant · February 26, 1968
- RICHARD D WILLIAMSCorporal · February 26, 1968
- MICHAEL VINCENT WRIGHTPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
- JOSEPH ANTHONY ZUNIGACorporal · February 26, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ANDREW AUGUSTUS ALLEN IIISpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 34
- ROY ALLENCorporal · Panel 41E, Line 34
- JAMES EDWARD DEESE JRCorporal · Panel 41E, Line 37
- GARFIELD EVANSSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 37
- WAYNE B PLATTSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 42
- ALVIN RAY BROWNSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 45
From Holland
- JOHN MARTIN JOHNSONCorporal · May 29, 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.