The Wall › Panel 42E › Arkansas › Carl Lester Downs
CARL LESTER DOWNS
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
May 7, 1946 – February 29, 1968
Service recordCarl Lester Downs, of Little Rock, Arkansas, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 29, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 4
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- May 7, 1946
- Home of record
- Little Rock, Arkansas (Pulaski County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; eight of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 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 42E, Line 4
- FRANCIS MURTAUGH DRISCOLLFirst Lieutenant · February 29, 1968
- JOHN DAVID LOCKW DUFFIELDPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- ROBERT WAYNE ELLISSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- EARL ERWIN JRSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
From Little Rock
- LEVERNE WILLIAM MCKINLEYStaff Sergeant · August 27, 1965
- CHAMBLESS M CHESNUTTMajor · September 30, 1965
- JAMES MASSEYSergeant · August 24, 1965
- BOBBIE ELDON NOLENSecond Lieutenant · January 25, 1966
- DAVID DANIEL GENSEMER IIISpecialist Four · January 30, 1966
- JOHN WESLEY HOUSTONPrivate First Class · February 13, 1966
- WILLIE PIPPINS SRSergeant · February 24, 1966
- BOBBY LEON MORDENPrivate First Class · June 30, 1966
- JAMES LARRY MCCRYSTALPrivate First Class · July 27, 1966
- WILLIE GREEN JRPrivate First Class · October 3, 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.