45 years after honorable discharge, Vietnam vet’s name goes on memorial

A Modesto man who died in 2015 is among 14 Vietnam War veterans whose names were added to a memorial in Sacramento because their deaths were a result of their service.

On Saturday, Navy veteran Jerry Ray Oliver’s name, along with 13 others, was unveiled during a ceremony at the memorial, which also included honoring the families and laying wreaths.

Created in 2013, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Honor Committee is tasked with compiling a list of names of California veterans who died as a result of illness or injuries, including documented physical or mental injuries, which can reasonably be assumed to have resulted from military service in the war.

The names of those people are added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Capital Park in Sacramento.

Oliver was born in Stockton in 1950, a fourth-generation Californian, according to the state Department of Veterans Affairs. He graduated from Sonora High School in 1968 and enlisted in the Navy four months later, attending submarine school from February to April 1969.

He arrived in Vietnam in April 1969 and served for one year as a fireman for the Seabees in the Fire Protection Division in Da Nang.

Oliver was honorably discharged in June 1970, according to the release. He was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation Gallantry Cross Ribbon bar.

He died in Modesto on Nov. 1, 2015, at the age of 65, leaving behind his wife of 42 years, Susan Oliver, three children and three grandchildren. The department did not specify how Oliver died.

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 6:14 PM with the headline "45 years after honorable discharge, Vietnam vet’s name goes on memorial."