The Wall › Panel 64E › Oklahoma › Robert Dean Plato
ROBERT DEAN PLATO
Master Sergeant · U.S. Army
June 15, 1935 – May 20, 1968
Service recordRobert Dean Plato, of El Reno, Oklahoma, served as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 20, 1968, in Laos, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 64E, Line 7 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 64E · Line 7
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
- Master Sergeant (MSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- June 15, 1935
- Home of record
- El Reno, Oklahoma (Canadian County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 20, 1968
- Age
- 32
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date May 20, 1968. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 24 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 64E, Line 7
- ROBERT JOSEPH HARTLEYSergeant · May 20, 1968
- WILLIE JAMES MCCLAIN JRCorporal · May 20, 1968
- THOMAS EDWIN MCKNIGHTLance Corporal · May 20, 1968
- CORNEALUS PUMPHREY JRStaff Sergeant · May 20, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM CLAY BAERSergeant · Panel 64E, Line 2
- JOHN HARTLEY ROBERTSONMaster Sergeant · Panel 64E, Line 8
From El Reno
- RONALD LEE WATSONSpecialist Four · August 25, 1966
- JAMES TERENCE BAYNELance Corporal · September 18, 1966
- DONALD LEE GUSTAFSONStaff Sergeant · May 8, 1967
- ALPHA LEE BUFORDPrivate First Class · November 8, 1967
- CLARENCE FINLEY BLANTONLieutenant Colonel · March 11, 1968
- SAMMY RAY SMITHSergeant · April 16, 1968
- JOE ED RILEY JRSpecialist Four · May 10, 1968
- JOHN MARSHALL HOLLOWAYStaff Sergeant · February 14, 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.