The Wall › Panel 34W › Ohio › Robert Lee Luster
ROBERT LEE LUSTER
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
December 30, 1949 – January 23, 1969
Service recordRobert Lee Luster, of Tiffin, Ohio, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was lost on January 23, 1969, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 34W, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 34W · 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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- December 30, 1949
- Home of record
- Tiffin, Ohio (Seneca County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 23, 1969
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date January 23, 1969; seven of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In January 1969, 985 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 43 of its members that month.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Also on Panel 34W, Line 65
- DENNIS HAROLD GUTHRIESergeant · January 23, 1969
- WILLIAM ROY HENDERSONSergeant First Class · January 23, 1969
- FRANK JOSEPH MARCONISpecialist Four · January 23, 1969
- TOMMIE LEE MITCHELLLance Corporal · January 23, 1969
Same unit, same day
- FRANK DAVID MOORMANStaff Sergeant · Panel 34W, Line 66
- EDWARD SMITH JRSpecialist Four · Panel 34W, Line 68
From Tiffin
- GRANT CARL TAYLORPrivate · June 5, 1967
- HOWARD ALBERT STRAUSBAUGHLance Corporal · March 9, 1968
- LAWRENCE GILBERT BARGAHEISERGunnery Sergeant · August 6, 1968
- ROBERT CHARLE SIEBENALLERSpecialist Four · October 27, 1968
- RICHARD PAUL RITZLERCorporal · February 23, 1969
- ROBERT EUGENE ASKAMPrivate First Class · June 17, 1969
- WILLIS EUGENE KERLIN JRSergeant · September 26, 1971
- DONALD CHARLES TALLMANPrivate First Class · October 30, 1971
- ROY DEWITT PRATERTechnical Sergeant · April 6, 1972
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.