The Wall › Panel 14E › Illinois › Robert Edwin Matson
ROBERT EDWIN MATSON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
July 17, 1945 – January 21, 1967
Service recordRobert Edwin Matson, of Des Plaines, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 21, 1967, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 14E, Line 64 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 14E · Line 64
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)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- July 17, 1945
- Home of record
- Des Plaines, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 21, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
27 names on the Wall carry the date January 21, 1967; he was the only one lost in Hua Nghia Province that day. In January 1967, 638 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 14E, Line 64
- HARRY CURTIS MAHONEY JRMaster Sergeant · January 21, 1967
- HARRY J MILLERStaff Sergeant · January 21, 1967
- EDGAR ERWIN NUSCHKECaptain · January 21, 1967
- HARDY WINSTON PEEPLESCaptain · January 21, 1967
Same unit, same day
- HARRY J MILLERStaff Sergeant · Panel 14E, Line 64
From Des Plaines
- LEONARD J LEWANDOWSKI JRSergeant · October 19, 1966
- JAMES THOMAS RENZPrivate First Class · December 29, 1966
- MICHAEL STEVEN BRYANTPrivate First Class · January 27, 1967
- RALPH LAURENCE CARLOCKMajor · March 4, 1967
- JAMES MILTON ALBRIGHTLieutenant · March 10, 1967
- DONALD EDWARD WALTERS JRPrivate First Class · May 22, 1967
- JAMES T DONAHUE JRWarrant Officer 1 · September 22, 1967
- THOMAS PATRICK KLAUSINGPrivate First Class · April 28, 1968
- BRIAN JEFFREY CANNADAPrivate First Class · May 6, 1968
- PATRICK CARLISLE RIORDANPrivate First Class · May 19, 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.
