The Wall › Panel 16E › Michigan › Russell Lee Root
RUSSELL LEE ROOT
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 1, 1945 – March 19, 1967
Service recordRussell Lee Root, of Plainwell, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 19, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 16E, Line 114 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16E · Line 114
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- December 1, 1945
- Home of record
- Plainwell, Michigan (Allegan County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 19, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 19, 1967; 18 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In March 1967, 1,091 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 145 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault 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.
Also on Panel 16E, Line 114
- JAMES PATRICK NAILENPrivate First Class · March 19, 1967
- FRED HENRY PATTERSONSergeant · March 19, 1967
- JAMES JUNIUS RUFFINSpecialist Four · March 19, 1967
- FRANKLIN DWIGHT RUISPrivate First Class · March 19, 1967
Same unit, same day
- DENNIS JOHN BREDASecond Lieutenant · Panel 16E, Line 110
- BRUCE ANTHONY CORCORANPrivate First Class · Panel 16E, Line 110
- MARLIN CHRIS EVERSGERDSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 110
- JAMES A BLANCHARDPrivate First Class · Panel 16E, Line 111
- THOMAS J DANDOSergeant · Panel 16E, Line 111
- JACK MARTIN GOSNELLSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 111
- BARNEY JOE KELLYSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 112
- ROBERT LEWIS LINN JRPrivate First Class · Panel 16E, Line 112
- PAUL JOSEPH MCGOWANSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 113
- FRED HENRY PATTERSONSergeant · Panel 16E, Line 114
- LOUIS SASSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 115
- DONALD LEE SCHROEDERSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 115
- JAMES C TARKENTON IIIFirst Lieutenant · Panel 16E, Line 116
- DONALD WESLEY WALTERSSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 117
- RODNEY RICHARD WEEDSpecialist Four · Panel 16E, Line 117
From Plainwell
- JOHN J FLEMINGPrivate First Class · September 30, 1965
- LARRY A WINSLOWSpecialist Four · December 7, 1967
- JOHN STANLEY BAXTERFirst Lieutenant · August 27, 1968
- PHILLIP ALLEN WILSONSpecialist Four · December 16, 1970
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.