ALBERT FRANKLIN O’BANNON JR

Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment

4th Infantry Division

Killed In Action – 5/8/1968

Age: 20
Date of Birth: 6/3/1947
From: Redlands, California
Marital Status: Single

Sergeant, E-5, Selective Service
Pay grade at loss E-4. Posthumous promotion

Military Occupation Specialty: 91B20 – Medical NCO
Enlistment Date – 1/10/1967
Length of Service – One year and four months

His tour began on January 24, 1968
Casualty was on May 8, 1968
Casualty Code – A1-I-7
Ground Casualty
Hostile – Died Outright, Misadventure
Place of casualty – Kontum Province, Dak To District
Approximately seven kilometers southwest of Dak To basecamp.

Albert F O’Bannon Jr. was killed in action by friendly fire when his unit was moving to engage an NVA force near Hill 1089 southwest of Dak To. UH-1B Huey gunships of the 7-17th Cavalry Squadron were engaging NVA rocket positions on the northern slope of the hill when they mistakenly identified Delta Company, 3-12 Infantry as an NVA element and engaged the American infantry company with 40mm grenades, rockets and automatic weapons fire. Three men were KIA and four others wounded in this event.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Panel 57E Line 8

SGT Albert F. O’Bannon’s decorations.

Top row (Badges) – Combat Medical Badge
Middle row – left to right (Individual Awards) – Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Bottom row (Unit Awards) – Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam RVN Gallantry Cross Unit Citation

Biography

Albert Franklin O’Bannon was the second child of Albert Sr and Annette O’Bannon. He was born on June 3rd, 1947 in Missouri, and his family moved to California at some point after 1950. He had two siblings, an older sister Myra and a younger brother Wayne. Albert O’Bannon Sr served as a Seaman 2nd Class in World War II, and he and his wife Annette were very active in the Seventh Day Adventist church as active lay Bible workers in California and Missouri.

Albert Jr graduated from Redlands High School in 1965 He participated in concert choir and varsity track during his senior year, and was voted “Most Handsome Man” by the senior class. During medical training at Ft. Sam Houston, he graduated in the top five of his class.

Services

Funeral services for Albert were held on Wednesday, May 22nd at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Riverside, California. He was buried later the same day with military honors at Hillside Cemetery in Redlands.

Additional Information

Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund Wall of Faces – https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/38288/ALBERT-F-OBANNON-JR/

May 8th, 1968 – https://abraveservice.org/donald-sperl-may-8-1968/