The Wall › Panel 24W › New Jersey › Birden Jerome Lawson
BIRDEN JEROME LAWSON
Corporal · U.S. Army
May 30, 1948 – May 18, 1969
Service recordBirden Jerome Lawson, of Newark, New Jersey, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on May 18, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 24W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24W · Line 44
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- May 30, 1948
- Home of record
- Newark, New Jersey (Essex County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 18, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
81 names on the Wall carry the date May 18, 1969; 29 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Hamburger Hill was under way. On Đồng Ấp Bia (Hill 937) in the A Shau Valley (10–20 May 1969), the 101st Airborne Division attacked entrenched North Vietnamese troops for ten days; the soldiers called it “Hamburger Hill.” The heavy losses fed the debate at home over the war’s tactics. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 24W, Line 44
- WILLIE LEE KIRKLANDSergeant · May 18, 1969
- JOHN JOSEPH LASKOWSKISpecialist Five · May 18, 1969
- THOMAS DELANO LIPSCOMBFirst Lieutenant · May 18, 1969
- KENNETH EUGENE LOCKHARTStaff Sergeant · May 18, 1969
Same unit, same day
- PAUL GEORGE BELLINOCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 36
- LINCOLN E BUNDYSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 37
- GREGORY DOUGLAS CORNETTSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 38
- RALPH JOEL CRUTTSSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 38
- CHARLES JOSEPH CUDLIKESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 39
- THOMAS JOSEPH DEMARINISCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 39
- JAMES ALBERT DIMOCK JRFirst Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 39
- DAVID GARTH FINNEGANSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 40
- JAMES ROCCO FIUMECorporal · Panel 24W, Line 40
- PAUL HUNTINGTON GANUNCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 41
- HAROLD C HEDDEN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 42
- LEONARD MARTIN HICKSONSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 42
- RUSSELL LANE JETTSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 43
- WILLIE LEE KIRKLANDSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 44
- THOMAS DELANO LIPSCOMBFirst Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 44
- JERRY MICHAEL LOVELLSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 45
- DONALD JOSEPH MALICEKCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 45
- HANS LOTHAR MILLSSpecialist Five · Panel 24W, Line 45
- MIGUEL ORTEGA MORENOSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 45
- BOBBY GENE NEWBYCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 46
- WILLIAM J PETERSONSecond Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 47
- JORDY JOSEPH PITRESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 48
- JOHN CHARLES PAPECaptain · Panel 24W, Line 49
- RUDOLPH ROSSIPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 49
From Newark
- KELLY KARL HEINZEStaff Sergeant · August 24, 1965
- LEROY WILLIAMS JRPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- RICHARD BURGANSPrivate First Class · October 5, 1965
- SCIP TATESpecialist Four · November 8, 1965
- ROBERT GOINESSergeant · December 5, 1965
- JOHN PRESTON GREENESpecialist Four · December 5, 1965
- WESTOVEL VENABLEPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- ROY RANSOM ALLENPrivate First Class · March 21, 1966
- ARNOLD WOODSONSpecialist Four · April 5, 1966
- DONALD EDWIN SIEGWARTHLieutenant (junior grade) · June 17, 1966
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.