The Wall › Panel 54E › North Carolina › Robert Douglas Avery
ROBERT DOUGLAS AVERY
Captain · U.S. Marine Corps
December 18, 1941 – May 3, 1968
Service recordRobert Douglas Avery, of Morganton, North Carolina, served as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was lost on May 3, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 54E, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 54E · Line 23
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Qualified A-6e Bombardier/Navigator (I) (7583)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VMA AW 533 MAG 12 1 MAW
- Born
- December 18, 1941
- Home of record
- Morganton, North Carolina (Burke County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 3, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
39 names on the Wall carry the date May 3, 1968. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VMA AW 533 MAG 12 1 MAW”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
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.
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 54E, Line 23
- PAUL LEROY BARKERPrivate First Class · May 3, 1968
- ARNOLD LEE BOLINDERSpecialist Four · May 3, 1968
- LONNIE ALLAN BROOKSSergeant · May 3, 1968
- JACK CRAIG CARCLAYCorporal · May 3, 1968
Same unit, same day
- THOMAS DEAN CLEMCaptain · Panel 54E, Line 24
From Morganton
- RALPH NATHANIEL SMITHStaff Sergeant · November 6, 1965
- CARL AVERY GRAYFirst Lieutenant · November 27, 1965
- WILLIAM SANFORD BUTLER JRSpecialist Four · November 4, 1966
- GARRY GLENN TALLENTLance Corporal · August 20, 1967
- DAVID BAKERPrivate First Class · October 28, 1967
- LEE ROY LANIERSergeant · March 2, 1968
- CARROLL JAMES BAILEYPrivate First Class · October 26, 1968
- EARNEST TAYLOR FREEMANSpecialist Four · May 12, 1969
- ROBERT HENRY CARTER JRLieutenant Colonel · May 27, 1969
- GLEN ERVIN POTEETSpecialist Four · June 30, 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.