The Wall › Panel 40E › Michigan › Bernard John Novak
BERNARD JOHN NOVAK
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Marine Corps
October 12, 1943 – February 22, 1968
Service recordBernard John Novak, of Muskegon, Michigan, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 22, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 67 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 67
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Assault Amphibious Vehicle Crewman (1833)
- Born
- October 12, 1943
- Home of record
- Muskegon, Michigan (Muskegon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 22, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 22, 1968; 27 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 40E, Line 67
- ELVAIN ENNIS NIOUSSergeant · February 22, 1968
- LARRY DEAN POWELLSpecialist Four · February 22, 1968
- CORNELIUS PRESSLEYPrivate First Class · February 22, 1968
- FRED REAVES JRSergeant · February 22, 1968
From Muskegon
- LOUIS KENNETH KANAARCaptain · January 9, 1966
- RICHARD NORMAN GEREAUCaptain · March 5, 1966
- DONALD LEWIS KINGColonel · May 14, 1966
- JAMES ALLEN TAZELAARPrivate First Class · June 28, 1966
- DANIEL LEE EARLENBAUGHSpecialist Four · August 26, 1966
- ROBERT GAYLE DAVISONSergeant · December 17, 1966
- JAMES HARVEY HOPSONPrivate First Class · March 21, 1967
- ANTONIO RAMON PONCEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1967
- GERALD RAY HENDRICKSONCorporal · November 26, 1967
- DAVID ORVILLE KAMPCorporal · December 27, 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.