The Wall › Panel 17W › Michigan › Richard Thomas Wilkinson
RICHARD THOMAS WILKINSON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 24, 1948 – October 16, 1969
Service recordRichard Thomas Wilkinson, of Grand Haven, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 16, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 86 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 86
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
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 5 INF DIV MECH
- Born
- November 24, 1948
- Home of record
- Grand Haven, Michigan (Ottawa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 16, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
15 names on the Wall carry the date October 16, 1969; two of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 9 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 86
- DAVID JAMES BAITINGERPrivate · October 17, 1969
- MICHAEL EUGENE COTESPrivate First Class · October 17, 1969
- MARCAS JOSE GARCIASpecialist Four · October 17, 1969
- ALAN TIMOTHY GEECorporal · October 17, 1969
From Grand Haven
- WILLIAM E MCGINNIS IIPrivate First Class · May 4, 1967
- ROBERT JOHN HODALSergeant Major · March 4, 1968
- LARRY ALLEN GOFFPrivate First Class · December 21, 1968
- SCOTTY GENE AUSTINSpecialist Four · September 18, 1969
- MARK ALAN VANBEUKERINGPrivate First Class · October 9, 1969
- CHARLES DONALD MATHEWSSpecialist Four · September 12, 1970
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.
