The Wall › Panel 38E › California › Boyd Jeffery Nelson
BOYD JEFFERY NELSON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 9, 1948 – February 7, 1968
Service recordBoyd Jeffery Nelson, of Oxnard, California, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 7, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 8 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 8
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Communications Center Specialist (72B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 SIGNAL BDE
- Born
- February 9, 1948
- Home of record
- Oxnard, California (Ventura County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 7, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
136 names on the Wall carry the date February 7, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 SIGNAL BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.
He died in Hua Nghia 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 38E, Line 8
- DAVID LEE MCPHERSONPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
- ROGER DILLON MCQUAYCorporal · February 7, 1968
- DONALD LAWRENCE NELSONPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
- LEWIS JEWETT NEWBERRYSpecialist Four · February 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RANDOLPH A EDWARDSSpecialist Four · Panel 37E, Line 82
- ADRIAN ALLEN QUICK JRSergeant First Class · Panel 38E, Line 11
- SAMUEL LUVENE SQUARRELLSergeant First Class · Panel 38E, Line 15
- DAVID EARL WEDHORNPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 18
- EVERETT ALBERT WYATT JRSergeant First Class · Panel 38E, Line 19
From Oxnard
- ROSCOE HENRY FOBAIRLieutenant Colonel · July 24, 1965
- STEVE WILSON PAGEPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- JOHN PERRY GILLIAMPrivate First Class · February 26, 1966
- DENNIS JOHN BREDASecond Lieutenant · March 19, 1967
- OREN KENNETH MILLERSergeant · June 25, 1967
- CHARLES ALAN BALLAUFHospitalman · July 7, 1967
- LEONARD R LUDWIGSpecialist Four · August 12, 1967
- JAMES RYOICHIRO WATANABESergeant · September 26, 1967
- HARRY CARL SARSFIELDSpecialist Four · October 17, 1967
- MANUEL JOE RODRIGUEZSergeant · October 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.