The Wall › Panel 40E › South Carolina › Benjamin Franklin Mattison
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MATTISON
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
November 15, 1925 – February 18, 1968
Service recordBenjamin Franklin Mattison, of Anderson, South Carolina, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 18, 1968, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 42. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 9
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. Army
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Tubine Engine Drive/Generator Repairer (52F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- ENGINEERING CMD
- Born
- November 15, 1925
- Home of record
- Anderson, South Carolina (Anderson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1968
- Age
- 42
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
85 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1968; two of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “ENGINEERING CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 25 of its members that month.
He died in Bien Hoa 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 40E, Line 9
- PATRICK EUGENE LINDSTROMLance Corporal · February 18, 1968
- ADRIAN SALOME LOPEZPrivate First Class · February 18, 1968
- CLARENCE F MAAS IIISergeant · February 18, 1968
- CHARLES JOSEPH PATRIZIOSpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LLOYD GENE LAMMEYSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 8
From Anderson
- HEWETT FRANK EVASTUS COEChief Petty Officer · May 20, 1962
- JAMES ROY BROOKS JRLance Corporal · August 18, 1965
- WILBURN ROBERSONPrivate First Class · September 24, 1966
- HAROLD GUINN MCDOWELLPrivate First Class · February 16, 1968
- WILLIE FRANK FOSTERPrivate First Class · March 4, 1968
- DOYLE WILLIAMSPlatoon Sergeant · April 2, 1968
- EDGAR EUGENE PARKERStaff Sergeant · July 23, 1968
- RANDOLPH SCOTTSpecialist Four · March 11, 1970
- ROBERT LOUIS KINGSpecialist Four · July 5, 1970
- RONALD ELWOOD FIELDSStaff Sergeant · September 30, 1970
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.