THE WALL OF FACES

Private First Class Manuel Rafael Gonzalez-Maldonada, Served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Army Vietnam.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us….

DoD records differ on the surname of PFC MANUEL GONZALEZ-MALDONADA. Original records with GONZALEZ-MALDONADA led to his name being inscribed as such on The Wall. Since then, the Report of Casualty and headstone indicates GONZALEZ-MALDONADO. VVMF records must match DoD database files which have thus far not been changed. Further evidence supporting MALDONADO is this photo found in the Ft. Gordon graduation book from April 20, 1964.

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

Manuel R. González-Maldonado was born in Humacao to Providencia and Rafael González Peña, who lived at E-17 Urbano Los Angeles, in Carolina, at the time of their son's death. During the 1930s and 40s, Rafael González Peña was a member of Rafael Muñoz's orchestra and, in fact, he was a famous saxophonist as well as a composer. After his son's death in Vietnam in 1965, González Peña wrote a book,  "In posthumous honor to the memory of a young military man" (published 1970), which he wrote in memory of his son PFC Manuel R. González Maldonado. The Spanish title of the book is “Honras póstumas a la memoria de un joven militar” and it may only be available via the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in San Juan.