The Wall › Panel 42E › Michigan › Robert John Hodal
ROBERT JOHN HODAL
Sergeant Major · U.S. Marine Corps
May 16, 1925 – March 4, 1968
Service recordRobert John Hodal, of Grand Haven, Michigan, served as a Sergeant Major in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 4, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 42. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 65
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Sergeant Major (SGTMAJ)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- May 16, 1925
- Home of record
- Grand Haven, Michigan (Ottawa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 4, 1968
- Age
- 42
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
75 names on the Wall carry the date March 4, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam 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 65
- MICHAEL DAVID GEISEPrivate First Class · March 4, 1968
- CARL CLARENCE HARLESSPrivate First Class · March 4, 1968
- EDWARD EARL HENRYPrivate First Class · March 4, 1968
- RAMON SANCHEZ HERNANDEZSpecialist Four · March 4, 1968
- GARY OLSON HOLSINGERCorporal · March 4, 1968
From Grand Haven
- WILLIAM E MCGINNIS IIPrivate First Class · May 4, 1967
- LARRY ALLEN GOFFPrivate First Class · December 21, 1968
- SCOTTY GENE AUSTINSpecialist Four · September 18, 1969
- MARK ALAN VANBEUKERINGPrivate First Class · October 9, 1969
- RICHARD THOMAS WILKINSONSpecialist Four · October 16, 1969
- CHARLES DONALD MATHEWSSpecialist Four · September 12, 1970
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.