The Wall › Panel 36E › New York › Richard Walker Harper
RICHARD WALKER HARPER
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
January 25, 1941 – January 31, 1968
Service recordRichard Walker Harper, of Baldwin, New York, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 27. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 12 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 12
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
- Tank Unit Commander (1203)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 199 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- January 25, 1941
- Home of record
- Baldwin, New York (Nassau County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 27
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 66 of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 199th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 36E, Line 12
- STEVEN ALLEN GUTHRIESpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- CHARLES EDWARD HALLSergeant First Class · January 31, 1968
- CHARLES VERNON HAMPTON JRLance Corporal · January 31, 1968
- GARY W HANNAWarrant Officer 1 · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ALFRED JOHN LEWISPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 2
- FLETCHER LEON LEWISSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 4
- DENNY MILBURN JACKSONSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 17
- ALLEN LANE WINTERSSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 43
From Baldwin
- KENNETH M RORABACKMaster Sergeant · November 24, 1963
- ARTHUR GLIDDENSergeant First Class · November 9, 1966
- ROBERT LUDECKERSpecialist Four · May 8, 1967
- PETER HERMAN HEISSENBUTTELSpecialist Four · February 2, 1968
- ANTHONY ALFRED GIRETTISecond Lieutenant · March 19, 1969
- CHARLES MICHAEL REEDSergeant · September 10, 1970
- GEORGE WILLIAM MAINARDYSergeant · April 15, 1972
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.