The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Robert John Swedenburg.

The Wall › Panel 15W › Minnesota › Robert John Swedenburg

ROBERT JOHN SWEDENBURG

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

October 12, 1949 – December 9, 1969

Service record

Robert John Swedenburg, of Thief River Falls, Minnesota, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on December 9, 1969, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 15W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 15W · Line 44

Position of Panel 15W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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 Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
Unit (as recorded)
25 INF DIV
Born
October 12, 1949
Home of record
Thief River Falls, Minnesota (Pennington County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 9, 1969
Age
20
Province
Hua Nghia
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Died of Wounds
Circumstance
Explosive Device

Context · from the records

What was happening

19 names on the Wall carry the date December 9, 1969; three of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In December 1969, 509 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 52 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 15W, Line 44

Same unit, same day

From Thief River Falls

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.