The Wall › Panel 17W › Iowa › Robert Bruce Leonard
ROBERT BRUCE LEONARD
Petty Officer Second Class · U.S. Navy
May 8, 1946 – October 2, 1969
Service recordRobert Bruce Leonard, of Des Moines, Iowa, served as a Petty Officer Second Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on October 2, 1969, in North Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 29
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. Navy
- Rank
- Petty Officer Second Class (PO2)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Fire Control Technician (Missile Fire Control) (FTM)
- Unit (as recorded)
- USS CONSTELLATION CVA 64
- Born
- May 8, 1946
- Home of record
- Des Moines, Iowa (Polk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 2, 1969
- Age
- 23
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date October 2, 1969. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “USS CONSTELLATION CVA 64”, his unit in the record, lost 5 of its members that month.
The record places this loss in North Vietnam, outside South Vietnam — most often the sign of an air crew lost over the North or the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 17W, Line 29
- PAUL HARLAN KRUSESpecialist Four · October 2, 1969
- JOHN ROACH LAKE JRFirst Lieutenant · October 2, 1969
- DENNIS MICHAEL LAMBERTSergeant · October 2, 1969
- WASHINGTON MORRIS LANGLEYSpecialist Four · October 2, 1969
Same unit, same day
- ROY GILLMAN FOWLERPetty Officer Third Class · Panel 17W, Line 26
- PAUL EDWIN GOREPetty Officer First Class · Panel 17W, Line 27
- WILLIAM DALE GORSUCHPetty Officer Third Class · Panel 17W, Line 27
- KEAVIN LEE TERRELLPetty Officer Third Class · Panel 17W, Line 32
From Des Moines
- CONNIE LEROY CHANDLERSergeant · November 20, 1965
- HARRY RICHARD CRUMLEYCaptain · January 25, 1966
- WALTER BOYCE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- MARSHALL MYRON HOLT JRCaptain · March 2, 1966
- STEPHEN PAUL ALSTEDPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- DENNIS ARNOLD MAYCaptain · April 29, 1966
- WILLIAM FREDRICK FREESTONEGunnery Sergeant · July 5, 1966
- JERRY LEE LEONARDISergeant First Class · July 10, 1966
- TERRY PATRICK SLOANPetty Officer First Class · November 9, 1966
- LOREN STEVEN REEVESSpecialist Four · November 11, 1966
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.