The Wall › Panel 37W › New York › Richard Lee Bales
RICHARD LEE BALES
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
December 7, 1947 – December 4, 1968
Service recordRichard Lee Bales, of Fairport, New York, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on December 4, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 37W, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37W · Line 37
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- AMERICAL DIV
- Born
- December 7, 1947
- Home of record
- Fairport, New York (Monroe County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 4, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
35 names on the Wall carry the date December 4, 1968; five of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 7 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 37W, Line 37
- TERRANCE LEE MERCKESergeant · December 3, 1968
- ARTHUR LEE WARNERSpecialist Four · December 3, 1968
- STEPHEN BABULJAKFirst Lieutenant · December 4, 1968
- WALTER FRANK BYRD JRSpecialist Four · December 4, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM JEFFREY HODGESSergeant · Panel 37W, Line 39
From Fairport
- LARRY JAMES BAKERPetty Officer Third Class · September 16, 1966
- LARRY GEORGE LUDWIGLance Corporal · July 5, 1967
- ALEXANDER ANTHONY ROCZENPrivate First Class · July 4, 1968
- JEFFREY DAVID SCHUMACHERPrivate First Class · June 14, 1971
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.