The Wall › Panel 36E › Ohio › Robert James Oates
ROBERT JAMES OATES
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
November 23, 1944 – February 2, 1968
Service recordRobert James Oates, of Cincinnati, Ohio, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on February 2, 1968, in Phong Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 80 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 80
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- November 23, 1944
- Home of record
- Cincinnati, Ohio (Hamilton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 2, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Phong Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
130 names on the Wall carry the date February 2, 1968; five of them were lost in Phong Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 61 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 36E, Line 80
- ALFRED LEE MCNABBPrivate First Class · February 2, 1968
- WAYNE PAUL NEWCOMBLance Corporal · February 2, 1968
- HILBERTO ORTEGAPrivate First Class · February 2, 1968
- WAYNE LEROY SAPPGunnery Sergeant · February 2, 1968
Same unit, same day
- KENNETH JOHN AINSWORTHSpecialist Five · Panel 36E, Line 64
- ALLEN CARSON HARDISONSpecialist Five · Panel 36E, Line 73
- CARL LYNN WESTCaptain · Panel 37E, Line 3
From Cincinnati
- ROBERT DAVID BENNETTCaptain · November 5, 1962
- TOM WARDSergeant First Class · August 20, 1964
- KENNETH EDWARD HUMELieutenant Commander · March 29, 1965
- JAMES MELVEN PENNYPrivate First Class · July 15, 1965
- GENE RAYMOND GOLLAHONLieutenant · August 13, 1965
- LEONARD FREDERICK VOGT JRCommander · September 18, 1965
- CLARENCE HENRY GRAYStaff Sergeant · October 5, 1965
- EDWARD KEMPPrivate First Class · October 23, 1965
- CHARLES R DAVIS JRSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- TOMMY ALLEN DOAKPrivate First Class · November 17, 1965
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.