The Wall › Panel 5E › Pennsylvania › Robert Charles Hessom
ROBERT CHARLES HESSOM
Commander · U.S. Navy
November 2, 1925 – March 5, 1966
Service recordRobert Charles Hessom, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on March 5, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 40. His name is inscribed on Panel 5E, Line 114 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5E · Line 114
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
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Born
- November 2, 1925
- Home of record
- Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania (Columbia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 5, 1966
- Age
- 40
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
72 names on the Wall carry the date March 5, 1966. In March 1966, 564 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
Also on Panel 5E, Line 114
- ROBERT BROWNSergeant · March 5, 1966
- ALBERT CABANAYANCorporal · March 5, 1966
- ROBERT MALUENDA CALIBOSOCaptain · March 5, 1966
- PHILIP FITCHLance Corporal · March 5, 1966
From Bloomsburg
- TERRY RICHARD HINKLESpecialist Four · August 13, 1968
- GARY JAMES PALMERPrivate · October 15, 1968
- ROGER LEE PIFERPrivate First Class · February 20, 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.