The Wall › Panel 32W › Illinois › Ronald Michael Nowak
RONALD MICHAEL NOWAK
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
September 11, 1950 – February 18, 1969
Service recordRonald Michael Nowak, of Naperville, Illinois, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 18, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 32W, Line 54 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32W · Line 54
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
- September 11, 1950
- Home of record
- Naperville, Illinois (Du Page County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1969
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1969; four of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 32W, Line 54
- IRWIN LEON EDELMANSpecialist Four · February 18, 1969
- CLIO C FEATHERSTON JRSpecialist Four · February 18, 1969
- RODNEY R GREENFirst Lieutenant · February 18, 1969
- NATHANIEL LERVERN JOHNSONLance Corporal · February 18, 1969
From Naperville
- CHRISTOPHER WAYNE BEAVERSPrivate First Class · May 18, 1967
- MICHAEL EDWARD DUNNLieutenant Commander · January 26, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES LUEBKE JRSpecialist Four · July 24, 1968
- DEAN WARD MOEHRINGSergeant · March 3, 1969
- DONALD JOHN PORTERFirst Lieutenant · June 2, 1969
- WALTER JOSEPH GUTOWSKICaptain · August 5, 1969
- JAY CHARLES SACKSCorporal · August 14, 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.