The Wall › Panel 39E › Massachusetts › Robert Joseph Nelson
ROBERT JOSEPH NELSON
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
November 25, 1946 – February 13, 1968
Service recordRobert Joseph Nelson, of Lynn, Massachusetts, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 13, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 23
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Field Radio Operator (2531)
- Born
- November 25, 1946
- Home of record
- Lynn, Massachusetts (Essex County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 13, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
60 names on the Wall carry the date February 13, 1968; 15 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 39E, Line 23
- DENNIS RAY LANGROCKPrivate First Class · February 13, 1968
- JOHN MAJOR MARTINFirst Lieutenant · February 13, 1968
- ROBERT CHARLES MAURICEPrivate First Class · February 13, 1968
- JERRY DUANE MOUNTSPrivate First Class · February 13, 1968
From Lynn
- CARLETON WEBSTER UPTONSpecialist Five · March 15, 1964
- FREDERICK GEORGE ATKINSONPrivate First Class · July 9, 1966
- KENNETH ROBERT CARTERSergeant · July 31, 1966
- IRVIN GEORGE MILLERPrivate First Class · October 17, 1966
- WILLIAM JOSEPH OBRIENCorporal · March 28, 1967
- KEVIN ARTHUR CAHILLLance Corporal · October 12, 1967
- JOHN DOUGLAS EVANSLance Corporal · February 2, 1968
- DAVID ANDREW CHISHOLMCorporal · March 15, 1968
- EDWARD ANDERSONCorporal · May 14, 1968
- JOHN LOUIS RAMSEYSpecialist Four · May 25, 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.