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Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division leap from a UH-1D during an air assault.
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division leap from a UH-1D during an air assault. Photo: SP4 Johnnie Jackson, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Charles Joseph Vitanza.

The Wall › Panel 15E › Pennsylvania › Charles Joseph Vitanza

CHARLES JOSEPH VITANZA

Sergeant · U.S. Army

November 8, 1935 – February 9, 1967

Service record

Charles Joseph Vitanza, of Cresco, Pennsylvania, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 9, 1967, in South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 15E, Line 12 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 15E · Line 12

Position of Panel 15E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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.

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic (63B)
Unit (as recorded)
1 INF DIV
Born
November 8, 1935
Home of record
Cresco, Pennsylvania (Monroe County)

Casualty

Date of death
February 9, 1967
Age
31
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Drowning

Context · from the records

What was happening

12 names on the Wall carry the date February 9, 1967. In February 1967, 767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.

Read the history

On the Wall

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 15E, Line 12

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.