The Wall › Panel 9W › New York › Richard Lee Kester
RICHARD LEE KESTER
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
September 10, 1949 – June 3, 1970
Service recordRichard Lee Kester, of Angola, New York, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on June 3, 1970, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 9W, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9W · Line 5
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- September 10, 1949
- Home of record
- Angola, New York (Erie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 3, 1970
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
17 names on the Wall carry the date June 3, 1970; three of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In June 1970, 560 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 9W, Line 5
- WIELAND CLYDE NORRISPrivate First Class · June 3, 1970
- DANIEL ROSS PARTINSpecialist Four · June 3, 1970
- THOMAS EDWARD F PEACOCKSergeant · June 3, 1970
- RONALD EDWIN ROGERSFirst Lieutenant · June 3, 1970
Same unit, same day
- RODERICK KENNETH TOLBERTSergeant · Panel 9W, Line 6
From Angola
- HENRY PATRICK JACKOWIAKCorporal · September 26, 1967
- MICHAEL LEE MALINSpecialist Four · March 25, 1969
- WILLIAM EDWARD SISLEYPrivate First Class · July 8, 1969
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.