The Wall › Panel 47E › Texas › Robert Earl Cole
ROBERT EARL COLE
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 20, 1942 – March 30, 1968
Service recordRobert Earl Cole, of Carthage, Texas, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 30, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 9
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- January 20, 1942
- Home of record
- Carthage, Texas (Panola County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 30, 1968
- Age
- 26
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date March 30, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 68 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 47E, Line 9
- ROGER THOMAS BROWNLance Corporal · March 30, 1968
- PATRICK KEVIN BURKECorporal · March 30, 1968
- WALTER ALAN CICHONStaff Sergeant · March 30, 1968
- DAVID CULP JRPrivate First Class · March 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- NORMAN LEE BLASINGAMEPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 8
- WALTER ALAN CICHONStaff Sergeant · Panel 47E, Line 9
- DAVID CULP JRPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 9
- CHARLES HENRY DYCHESPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 10
- MICHAEL KENNETH HARESpecialist Five · Panel 47E, Line 11
- BARRY MALCOLM HILLSGROVEPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 12
- ROBERT STEVENS JERNBERGSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 12
- ROBERT FRANCIS KLINE JRCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 13
- LARRY GEORGE MANUELPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 13
- JESSE ALLEN MURPHYSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 14
From Carthage
- THOMAS DEAN VINCENTLieutenant · February 25, 1965
- CECIL BENNY BRIDGESCorporal · July 29, 1967
- JAMES MINTER LANGFORDSpecialist Four · April 3, 1968
- DAVID CLAUD WELLSCorporal · May 11, 1968
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.