Donald Alvah Skinner was born on December 2, 1944, to Betty and Nat Skinner. His home of record is Lavallette, NJ. Donald was the third of eight children. At an early age, he delivered newspapers with his brothers, Mike and Jerry. Their other siblings were brothers, William, Skip and Kevin, and sisters, Betty Lou and Patricia. The Skinner family lived in Plainfield, NJ, before moving to the oceanfront community of Lavellette in 1954.

He went to work in his junior year of high school at the ShopRite in Toms River with brother, Mike, at his side. Don loved working on car engines with his buddies. On the weekends, they went to Wall Stadium to watch and sometimes race the stock cars. Don graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School in 1962.

Skinner was working as a carpenter when he was drafted into the US Army. He did a lot of building in Vietnam, only to have the buildings blown away by mortars and bombs dropped by the enemy.

Skinner was an infantryman with C Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade. His tour of duty in Vietnam began November 18, 1966.

He was killed in action on May 23, 1967, as a result of multiple fragmentation wounds received in Quang Ngai, South Vietnam. Skinner lost his life just two weeks short of his scheduled R&R when he planned to meet his girlfriend, Lynn, in Hawaii.

Skinner’s mother, Elizabeth “Betty”, a Gold Star Mother, served as president of American Legion Post 3512 and the Ocean County American Legion in honor of her son.

Sources: Anne Cullen (volunteer) and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024