Panel/Line: 43W/40
Force: Army
Company: D
Rank: Private First Class
Pay Grade: E3
CAACF: 54721482
Birth Date: January 13, 1948
Race: Negro
Gender: M
Religion: Baptist
Married: N
Cause of Death: ground casualty by an explosive device hostile;
Died in Ba Xugen at age 20
The body was recovered.
[Big Al Vargas]
I arrived in country in June of '68 and met McVea and a cook named I believe Smitty. We went thru the training process at the reliable academy at Bearcat and then assighned to the 6/31st Delta Co. I went to the 2nd plt and McVea went to the 3rd plt. He was killed in Sept of '68 while on patrol (boobie trap). He was another Dragon that gave his life and left us soldiers with their memory FOREVER!
PFC. Robert Minor McVea Co. D. 6th Btln. 31st. Inf. 9th Inf. Div. 3rd Platoon. Robert was with us for several months before he was KIA. He was a nice young man who was always ready to have a cold one . His best friend was another PFC named Warren Harris. Warren was in the picture of the platoon swimming loading the two Chinooks with a weapons cache. Robert was killed when a 105 round went off in the tree killing him an wounding Warren in the arm. To this day I don't remember if it was command detonated or a wait a minute vine. Robert hung around with George Porter another southern gentleman. I don't think George or Warren were the same after that. This is the only picture I had of Robert. He is in the center of the picture. The incident happened at a place that we called the bowling alley. A name given by others that had been there before us. Rest in peace Robert.
L to R - George Porter - Sgt. Hicks - Robert McVea - Bill Winspear