The Wall › Panel 36E › California › Callen James Courtemanche
CALLEN JAMES COURTEMANCHE
Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
January 26, 1947 – January 31, 1968
Service recordCallen James Courtemanche, of La Crescenta, California, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on January 31, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 10 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 10
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- January 26, 1947
- Home of record
- La Crescenta, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 24 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. 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 36E, Line 10
- SERGIO JOHN GHERARDINISpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- RICHARD ALAN GILLEYPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- AUBREY GOFF JRSergeant · January 31, 1968
- WILLIAM SAMUEL GORDONPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
From La Crescenta
- MICHAEL ANTHONY NAJARIANHospitalman · June 18, 1966
- PATRICK OWEN QUINNLance Corporal · November 25, 1966
- GREGORY PAUL KELLYLance Corporal · June 10, 1967
- JOHN PATRICK LEESpecialist Four · June 19, 1967
- STEPHEN ARTHUR GOLSHSergeant · March 21, 1970
- WARREN RICHARD SPENCERMajor · December 20, 1972
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.