Roper, Joel Clyde
Army Private 1st class

Joel Clyde Roper, age 19, from Marietta, Georgia, Cobb county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Monday, October 9, 1967
Death details: Bronze Star citation: For heroism in connection with military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. On 9 October 1967 Private First Class Roper distinguished himself while serving as a Rifleman in Company A, 1/35th Infantry conducting a search and destroy mission near LZ Mary Lou. Private First Class Roper’s platoon was moving up the side of a hill when it was taken under fire by a reinforced NVA company. The enemy were using automatic weapons and firing from prepared positions, well-concealed in the thick underbrush, and their heavy fire killed several in the platoon immediately. Several others were wounded, and when they fell they lay still exposed to enemy fire. Private First Class Roper saw the plight of the wounded men. Unhesitatingly, he dashed through the intense hostile force to one of the wounded men, and he had another solider evacuate him. He then returned to the exposed area and, placing accurate fire on the enemy positions, he covered the removal of another stricken man. He was mortally wounded in the course of this heroic action, but, as a result of his bravery the lives of two men had been saved. Private First Class Roper’s self-sacrificing valor is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Cemetery: Toccoa Baptist Church, Blue Ridge

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association