The Wall › Panel 39E › Indiana › Ronald Lee Blacksten
RONALD LEE BLACKSTEN
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
May 20, 1947 – February 13, 1968
Service recordRonald Lee Blacksten, of Muncie, Indiana, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 13, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 17
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- May 20, 1947
- Home of record
- Muncie, Indiana (Delaware County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 13, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
60 names on the Wall carry the date February 13, 1968; 12 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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.
Also on Panel 39E, Line 17
- LARRY WAYNE BARNARDSergeant · February 13, 1968
- WINFIELD WESLEY BECKFirst Lieutenant · February 13, 1968
- JAMES LEE BROWN JRCorporal · February 13, 1968
- ROBERT GLENN BURRPrivate First Class · February 13, 1968
From Muncie
- NEIL BERNARD MCKINNEYFirst Lieutenant · September 2, 1963
- ROBERT LEWIS CLARKStaff Sergeant · May 16, 1965
- FRED YOUEL WRIGHT JRPrivate First Class · March 22, 1966
- EDWARD C ZIMMERMAN JRLance Corporal · June 25, 1966
- GLENDON LEE AMMONColonel · September 21, 1966
- ELMER LEVERNE BUCHANANPrivate First Class · September 24, 1966
- THOMAS JOSEPH CAREYSergeant · January 26, 1967
- HARVEY GRANT HOWE JRWarrant Officer 1 · January 28, 1967
- ALAN CRAIG SHROYERPrivate First Class · March 4, 1967
- CHARLES DUANE SAYLORSpecialist Four · March 12, 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.