The Wall › Panel 47W › Arkansas › Robert Buck Purtell
ROBERT BUCK PURTELL
Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 1, 1948 – August 19, 1968
Service recordRobert Buck Purtell, of Lockesburg, Arkansas, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on August 19, 1968, in Phong Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 47W, Line 3 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47W · Line 3
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- May 1, 1948
- Home of record
- Lockesburg, Arkansas (Sevier County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 19, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Phong Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
56 names on the Wall carry the date August 19, 1968; two of them were lost in Phong Dinh Province. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 27 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 47W, Line 3
- HERMAN GARFIELD PAYNEPrivate First Class · August 19, 1968
- CHARLIE PERKINS JRCorporal · August 19, 1968
- THOMAS LEROY POLLARDMajor · August 19, 1968
- RICHARD RAMIREZ JRPrivate First Class · August 19, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT HENRY HERINGCaptain · Panel 48W, Line 55
From Lockesburg
- BILLY CESAR MCFALLSSpecialist Four · May 29, 1967
- JESSIE RAY LINDLERPrivate First Class · December 23, 1970
- HAROLD CLAYTON HUNTER IISergeant · August 30, 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.