The Wall › Panel 42E › Illinois › Arthur John Turkstra
ARTHUR JOHN TURKSTRA
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 15, 1943 – February 29, 1968
Service recordArthur John Turkstra, of Chicago, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 11 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 11
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- February 15, 1943
- Home of record
- Chicago, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 42E, Line 11
- JOHN WILLIAM TRACYSergeant · February 29, 1968
- LARRY PRESTON TYSONSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- DARRELL RAYMOND UMHOLTZPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- LARRY JOHN WALTERMANPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GERALD CERVANTESSergeant · Panel 42E, Line 2
- EARL ERWIN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 4
- PHILLIP DOUGLAS LAFRAMBOISEStaff Sergeant · Panel 42E, Line 7
From Chicago
- MELVIN LESTER WATERSPrivate · February 10, 1965
- WILLIAM RALPH FUHRMANPetty Officer Third Class · April 23, 1965
- RAYMOND LEON HORNCorporal · May 1, 1965
- ARTHUR C JEPSON JRCaptain · May 16, 1965
- DONALD CLAY DEDMONStaff Sergeant · June 10, 1965
- ROGER PELIKANLance Corporal · July 17, 1965
- HARRY COHENTechnical Sergeant · July 19, 1969
- CURTIS LOCKHARTPrivate First Class · July 30, 1965
- EDWARD KOPECPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- JAMES LEO WHITELance Corporal · August 19, 1965
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.