Rank: Private First Class
Unit: I Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11D – Armor Reconnaissance Specialist
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Valorous Unit Award, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Selected Service
Date of birth: 26-May-1947
Hometown: Sylvester, Georgia
Marital status: Married to Charlotte S. Weaver
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 9-May-1967
Start of tour: 29-Sep-1967
Incident date: 14-Feb-1968
Date of casualty: 14-Feb-1968
Age at death: 20
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Joseph Robert Weaver Jr died as the result of fragment wounds received while passenger on armored personnel carrier which was hit by hostile fire during combat operation.
Three Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
PFC Randall John Gustafson
SGT Vitalio Vela Jr
PFC Joseph Robert Weaver Jr
Location of fatality: Binh Duong, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Rocky Mount Cemetery, Georgia, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOSEPH ROBERT WEAVER JR
14 FEBRUARY 1968
I TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class Weaver distinguished himself by valorous actions on 14 February 1968 while serving as a Machine Gunner with Troop I, 3d Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, while on a joint operation with elements of the 9th Infantry Division near the village of Cau Dat. The friendly force suddenly began receiving intense recoilless rifle, automatic weapons and small arms fire from a well-concealed Viet Cong force of unknown size. As his platoon maneuvered against the fortified positions, private Weaver directed a lethal stream of suppressive fire against the insurgents. He continued to detect and destroy all enemy gun positions within range until he was mortally wounded by fragments from an anti-tank round. Private First Class Weaver’s bravery and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 1562 (21 March 1968)