PLATT, ROBERT LENWOOD JR.

Name: Robert Lenwood Platt Jr.
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne
Division
Date of Birth: 01 September 1947
Home City of Record: Charleston SC
Date of Loss: 10 June 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 145228N 1084623E (BS605455)
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0728
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 from one or more of
the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence
with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W.
NETWORK 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: PFC Robert L. Platt Jr. was a member of Company B, 2nd Battalion,
502nd Infantry in Vietnam. On June 10, 1967, he was a member of a ten-man
patrol on a search and destroy mission operating about five miles southwest
of the city of Mo Duc in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam.

During the patrol, the team was ambushed and Platt was reportedly wounded in
the shoulder. When the patrol withdrew under fire, Platt was carried a short
distance when the man carrying him was wounded and Platt was again wounded
in the back. At this point, Platt was left behind.

After the patrol regrouped, search operations were begun and continued until
June 16. During the search, items were found that were believed to belong to
Platt, but he was not found. A captured enemy document indicated that an
individual whose first name was Robert had been captured and died the next
day from wounds. This report was not specific enough to classify Platt as a
prisoner of war. He was classified Missing in Action.

In 1973, 591 Americans were released from POW camps in Vietnam, and the
communist governments released a list of those who had died in captivity.
Platt did not return, nor was his name on any list provided by the
Vietnamese. He was one of about 2500 who remained prisoner, missing or
unaccounted for at the end of the war.

Mounting evidence indicates that some Americans are still alive being held
prisoner of war in Southeast Asia. The Vietnamese pledged to return all
prisoners of war and provide the fullest possible accounting of the missing
in the peace accords signed in 1973. They have done neither, and the U.S.
has not compelled them to do so.

The United States government pledged that the POW/MIA issue is of "highest
national priority" but has not achieved results indicative of a priority.
Platt and the nearly 2500 Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast
Asia deserve our best efforts to bring them home, not empty rhetoric.


Robert L. Platt Jr. was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant during the
period he was maintained missing.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KY9DEAW

SSG ROBERT LENWOOD PLATT JR.

Return to Service Member Profiles

 

Private First Class Robert Lenwood Platt Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from South Carolina, served with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On June 10, 1967, he was part of a ten-man patrol on a search and destroy mission against enemy positions in the Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. The patrol was ambushed in the vicinity of (GC) BS 605 455, and PFC Platt was hit in the shoulder by enemy fire. A fellow patrol member attempted to carry him for a while, but then PFC Platt was hit a second time, and the man carrying him was also wounded. The patrol was forced to leave PFC Platt in the jungle until they could return with reinforcements. After the patrol made it back to friendly lines, a search party was sent out to recover PFC Platt, but they were unable to locate him. Searches were conducted for six days to no avail. After the incident, the Army promoted PFC Platt to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Today, Staff Sergeant Platt is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

Service member profile discrepancy? Please help us ensure the accuracy of each profile by submitting documentation about a service member profile.