The Wall › Panel 67E › Virginia › Robert Duval Owen
ROBERT DUVAL OWEN
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
December 21, 1938 – May 23, 1968
Service recordRobert Duval Owen, of Chatham, Virginia, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He was lost on May 23, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 67E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 67E · Line 1
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Radio Operator (05B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- December 21, 1938
- Home of record
- Chatham, Virginia (Pittsylvania County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 23, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date May 23, 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.
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 67E, Line 1
- MARTIN LEE OWENSCorporal · May 23, 1968
- BILLY JOE PARRISHSergeant First Class · May 23, 1968
- LEONARDO RAMOS JRLance Corporal · May 23, 1968
- JOHN CRAIG ROBERTSONPrivate First Class · May 23, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GLEN OLIVER LANEMaster Sergeant · Panel 66E, Line 10
From Chatham
- FRANK RAY COMPTONLieutenant · March 21, 1966
- CHARLES EDWARD BLAIRColonel · March 19, 1968
- JAMES LLOYD BROOKSSpecialist Four · November 21, 1968
- DAVID DANIEL LAYNESpecialist Four · March 7, 1969
- FRANCIS MCLAUGHLINPrivate First Class · August 18, 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.