Paul Laverne Oakes Jr

Paul L. Oakes Junior grew up in Atlantic and graduated from Atlantic High School in 1959. He joined the Army Reserve and worked in the Army Recruiting Office in Omaha for several years. In 1966 he decided to go to Officer Candidate School knowing that he would most certainly be sent to Vietnam. On February 22, 1968 he arrived in Phong Dinh Province to serve with the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry in the Mekong Delta region. On June 19, 1968 First Lieutenant Oakes was killed by hostile fire while on a combat operation. He was survived by a daughter and buried in Atlantic Cemetery.