The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
An airman lights a candle during POW/MIA recognition week at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.
An airman lights a candle during POW/MIA recognition week at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. Photo: A1C Aaron Jenne, U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Armando Chapa JR.

The Wall › Panel 37E › California › Armando Chapa JR

ARMANDO CHAPA JR

Petty Officer Third Class · U.S. Navy

March 31, 1948 – February 6, 1968

Service record

Armando Chapa JR, of San Jose, California, served as a Petty Officer Third Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on February 6, 1968, offshore, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 52 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 37E · Line 52

Position of Panel 37E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Navy
Rank
Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Aviation Asw Technician (AX)
Unit (as recorded)
PATRON 26
Born
March 31, 1948
Home of record
San Jose, California (Santa Clara County)

Casualty

Date of death
February 6, 1968
Age
19
Province
Offshore
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

147 names on the Wall carry the date February 6, 1968. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “PATRON 26”, his unit in the record, lost 10 of its members that month.

His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.

Also on Panel 37E, Line 52

Same unit, same day

From San Jose

All 142 names from San Jose →

Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.