Roland J. Kelley

Date of Birth: 06/01/1948
Neighborhood: Kensington
High School: Jules E. Mastbaum Vocational High School
Street: N. Kip Street
Branch of Service: Marine Corps
Rank: PVT
Date of Casualty: 02/11/1968
Province of Casualty: Quang Tri
Philadelphia Memorial Panel: Panel 16
Panel Row: 6

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"Ronnie" Kelley was a "happy-go-lucky kind of guy," a sister remembered. "He was always ready to make you laugh, always ready with a joke." He studied auto mechanics at Jules E. Mastbaum Vocational High School before graduating in 1966. He enlisted in the Marine Corps that June, worked as a roofer's helper during the summer and began basic training in September. The 19-year-old private first class was sent to Vietnam, where he died on Feb. 11, 1968, in Quang Tn Province, during Operation Scotland. He had been in Vietnam for 10 months. The men of his company wrote to his parents, "We are all deeply hurt. Ron was real close to all of us . . . His

Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial