The Wall › Panel 1W › Indiana › Robert Merrill Kikkert
ROBERT MERRILL KIKKERT
Seaman Apprentice · U.S. Navy
January 22, 1954 – October 1, 1972
Service recordRobert Merrill Kikkert, of Munster, Indiana, served as a Seaman Apprentice in the U.S. Navy. He died on October 1, 1972, in North Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 78 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 78
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. Navy
- Rank
- Seaman Apprentice (SA)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Seaman (SN)
- Born
- January 22, 1954
- Home of record
- Munster, Indiana (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 1, 1972
- Age
- 18
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
20 names on the Wall carry the date October 1, 1972. In October 1972, 65 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 1W, Line 78
- TOMMY MELVIN HAWKERPetty Officer Second Class · October 1, 1972
- EDWARD RALPH MCELENEY JRSeaman · October 1, 1972
- ROBERT THOMAS MOORESeaman Apprentice · October 1, 1972
- STANLEY GEORGE PILOT JRSeaman Apprentice · October 1, 1972
From Munster
- GEORGE FRANKLIN MCCOYSecond Lieutenant · February 28, 1966
- DONALD FRANCIS SLACK JRCorporal · August 18, 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.