Rank: Private First Class
Unit: C Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 05B – Radio Operator
Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 7-Feb-1948
Hometown: Colfax, Washington
Marital status: Married to Nancy L. East
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 8-Feb-1965
Start of tour: 31-Mar-1967
Incident date: 14-Oct-1967
Date of casualty: 14-Oct-1967
Age at death: 19
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Artillery/Mortar/Rocket. Artillery, rocket, or mortar.
Melvin Douglas East died as the result of metal fragment wound received while passenger of military vehicle which was hit by hostile rocket.
Location of fatality: Phuoc Tuy, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Florence National Cemetery, Florence, South Carolina, USA
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