Roy L Edelstein

Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment

4th Infantry Division

Age: 20
Date of Birth: 8/25/1947
From: Superior, Wisconsin
Marital Status: Single

Private First Class, E-3, Selective Service

Military Occupation Specialty: 11B – Infantryman
Enlistment Date – 12/3/1967
Length of Service – Less than one year (255 days)

His tour began on May 25, 1968
Casualty was on August 14, 1968 (81 days in Vietnam)
Casualty Code – A1-H-7
Ground Casualty
Hostile – Died outright, Multiple fragmentation wounds
Place of casualty – Kontum Province, Dak To District
Approximately seven kilometers southwest of Ben Het.

               

               Roy L Edelstein was killed in action on August 14th, 1968 when the defensive position his unit was occupying was hit by a massive                             barrage of North Vietnamese Army recoilless rifle and mortar fire. Two platoons and the command element of Alpha Company, 3-12                       Infantry had occupied a position southwest of Firebase 29 midafternoon on the 14th. At approximately 6:15 PM, the small American                           perimeter began receiving incoming fire from the southwest. The roughly 50 men, unable to dig deep foxholes with overhead cover,                       were caught exposed.

               As Roy Edelstein was attempting to move himself and wounded comrades to a position offering greater cover, he was struck in the                         head by fragments from an exploding round and killed. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Heroism. By the time the                       barrage was over, 14 men were killed in action and at least eight more wounded.

                         

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Panel 48W Line 12

                                    PFC Roy L Edelstein’s decorations.

                                    Top row (Badges) – Combat Infantry Badge
                                    Middle row – left to right (Individual Awards) – Bronze Star w/Valor device, 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

                                      Roy L Edelstein was born on August 25th, 1947 in St. Louis County, Minnesota. He was the third child and only son of Arthur &                                        Ruth Edelstein. Arthur and Ruth raised their four children (Patricia, Susan, Roy, Linda) in Superior, Wisconsin, where Arthur                                              worked as a conductor/brakeman on the Burlington Northern Railroad for over 35 years.

                                      Roy graduated from Superior Central High School, class of 1965. After graduation, he attended Superior State College                                                  before being drafted. On his Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces memorial page, two former high school                                                    classmates left poignant remembrances of Roy.

                      

Services

Roy was buried with full military honors at the Hebrew Cemetery in Superior, Wisconsin on August 25th, 1968. The folded United States flag was presented to Mrs. Edelstein by the funeral party. Sergeant Larry L. Loveridge, who had provided military escort duties for PFC Edelstein, reported no unusual circumstances during the services and burial.

Additional Information

PFC Roy L Edelstein – gravesite visit. – https://abraveservice.org/gravesite-visit-42-pfc-roy-l-edelstein-superior-wisconsin/

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces – https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/14608/ROY-L-EDELSTEIN/