The Wall › Panel 40E › California › Robert Nelson Baker
ROBERT NELSON BAKER
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
April 24, 1935 – February 21, 1968
Service recordRobert Nelson Baker, of Santa Ana, California, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 21, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 51 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 51
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- April 24, 1935
- Home of record
- Santa Ana, California (Orange County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 21, 1968
- Age
- 32
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
32 names on the Wall carry the date February 21, 1968; four of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 18 of its members that month.
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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 40E, Line 51
- BARTOLOME ALFONSO BALDERAPrivate · February 21, 1968
- JACK WILLIAMS BRASINGTONSpecialist Four · February 21, 1968
- JAMES DOUGLAS BROWNStaff Sergeant · February 21, 1968
- RAYMOND DOUGLAS BURBAGESergeant · February 21, 1968
Same unit, same day
- PAUL MELVYN DOUGLASStaff Sergeant · Panel 40E, Line 52
From Santa Ana
- WILLIAM FORBES EISENBRAUNCaptain · July 5, 1965
- RUSSELL LAVERNE BISHOPSergeant · March 21, 1966
- CLYDE D MCDONALD IIPrivate First Class · March 25, 1966
- DONALD LEROY HEASTONPlatoon Sergeant · August 23, 1966
- CHARLES EUGENE STOKESPrivate First Class · September 17, 1966
- DOMINGO ESCALANTE JRSpecialist Four · February 16, 1967
- GARY KENNETH SMITHSpecialist Four · February 27, 1967
- ROBERT ANTHONY CHAPPSergeant · April 14, 1967
- RALPH JEAN TURCOTTELance Corporal · May 9, 1967
- RODGER LEE FORTUNESpecialist Four · May 26, 1967
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.