The Wall › Panel 37E › Illinois › Ben Jowers JR
BEN JOWERS JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
June 10, 1945 – February 6, 1968
Service recordBen Jowers JR, of Peoria, Illinois, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 6, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 59
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- June 10, 1945
- Home of record
- Peoria, Illinois (Peoria County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 6, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
147 names on the Wall carry the date February 6, 1968; he was the only one lost in Quảng Ngãi Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 25 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 37E, Line 59
- MICHAEL WAYNE JOHNSCorporal · February 6, 1968
- JAMES JOHNSON JRSpecialist Four · February 6, 1968
- GREGORY JONESSergeant · February 6, 1968
- THOMAS PAUL JONESLieutenant · February 6, 1968
From Peoria
- GARY PAUL BLANDLance Corporal · September 22, 1965
- JAMES RICHARD DISCHERTLance Corporal · October 11, 1965
- ANTHONY EUGENE PENDOLAPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- DANIEL JAMES SOBOTAPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- JOSEPH MYRON WORKMANPrivate First Class · November 17, 1965
- KIRK IRWIN RILEYCaptain · December 3, 1965
- JOHN HENRY BELLPrivate First Class · March 5, 1966
- JERRY JACK JOHNSONSecond Lieutenant · June 23, 1966
- HAROLD JOSEPH ALWANLieutenant Colonel · February 27, 1967
- HAROLD EDWARD NULLSpecialist Four · March 24, 1967
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.