The Wall › Panel 42E › California › Robert Irving Crane
ROBERT IRVING CRANE
Corporal · U.S. Army
May 6, 1947 – March 1, 1968
Service recordRobert Irving Crane, of Montgomery Creek, California, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on March 1, 1968, in Phong Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 14
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- May 6, 1947
- Home of record
- Montgomery Creek, California (Shasta County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 1, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Phong Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
70 names on the Wall carry the date March 1, 1968; six of them were lost in Phong Dinh Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 101 of its members that month.
He died in Phong Dinh 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 42E, Line 14
- ARTHUR LEE BRUNTPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- RICHARD JAMES BURNETTPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- WILLIAM LEDFOR CUNNINGHAMPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- BERTRAM ANTHONY DESOCorporal · March 1, 1968
Same unit, same day
- EARL IRVIN ALTHOUSEPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 12
- ADOLPHUS ELLISPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 15
- JOSEPH MAYESCorporal · Panel 42E, Line 20
- BENNIE RAY MONCUSPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 21
- GARY LEE OLIVERPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 22
- FRANK DAVID PINACaptain · Panel 42E, Line 23
- VERE LOYD WILLIAMS JRSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 23
- JOHN STEPHEN SIMMONSSecond Lieutenant · Panel 42E, Line 24
- WALTER LEE THOMPSONPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 25
- RICHARD JEFFREY PETRIESecond Lieutenant · Panel 42E, Line 26
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.