The Wall › Panel 40E › Massachusetts › Richard Joseph Kelley
RICHARD JOSEPH KELLEY
First Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
August 3, 1945 – February 20, 1968
Service recordRichard Joseph Kelley, of Lowell, Massachusetts, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 20, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 42
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
- First Lieutenant (1STLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Officer (I) (0302)
- Born
- August 3, 1945
- Home of record
- Lowell, Massachusetts (Middlesex County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 20, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 20, 1968; seven 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 42
- JIMMIE DOUGLAS JONESSpecialist Four · February 20, 1968
- DENNIS DWAIN KINGFirst Lieutenant · February 20, 1968
- LAUNEY E KINGSpecialist Five · February 20, 1968
- MICHAEL THOMAS LACOSTEPrivate First Class · February 20, 1968
From Lowell
- DONALD LEONARD ARCANDPrivate First Class · September 1, 1965
- WILLIAM THOMAS CALLERYPrivate First Class · February 22, 1966
- JOHN JOSEPH CARVILLESpecialist Four · May 1, 1966
- PETER TSIROVASILESPrivate First Class · June 2, 1966
- RUDOLPH H LEFEBVRE JRCorporal · July 18, 1966
- JOSEPH LEO VALLEEPrivate First Class · July 26, 1966
- PAUL LEO STEWARTStaff Sergeant · February 22, 1967
- PETER NICHOLAS SAMARASMajor · March 19, 1967
- ROBERT FRANCIS BIGELOWPrivate First Class · September 12, 1967
- BRUCE RAYMOND BAXTERMaster Sergeant · November 8, 1967
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.