The Wall › Panel 52E › Arizona › Robert Saavedra
ROBERT SAAVEDRA
Commander · U.S. Navy
August 1, 1934 – April 28, 1968
Service recordRobert Saavedra, of Nogales, Arizona, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on April 28, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 52E, Line 43 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 52E · Line 43
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
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 144
- Born
- August 1, 1934
- Home of record
- Nogales, Arizona (Santa Cruz County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 28, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
63 names on the Wall carry the date April 28, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 52E, Line 43
- AMEL DOUGLAS ROYALTYSpecialist Four · April 28, 1968
- JAMES EDWARD SANDPrivate First Class · April 28, 1968
- MICHAEL JOSEPH SAUNDERSPrivate First Class · April 28, 1968
- ROBERT PATRICK SHELLEMLance Corporal · April 28, 1968
From Nogales
- RICHARD GEORGE ENGELMANPrivate First Class · May 3, 1966
- SAMUEL LEGLEUSergeant · November 27, 1967
- JOSEPH ROBERT WISEMajor · January 31, 1968
- MANUEL MENDOZA SIQUEIROSPetty Officer Second Class · July 26, 1968
- SALVADOR LOPEZ NORZAGARAYPrivate First Class · February 26, 1969
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.