The Wall › Panel 18E › Washington › Charles Russell Petchnick
CHARLES RUSSELL PETCHNICK
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 5, 1947 – April 29, 1967
Service recordCharles Russell Petchnick, of Renton, Washington, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 29, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 18E, Line 116 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18E · Line 116
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- January 5, 1947
- Home of record
- Renton, Washington (King County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 29, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date April 29, 1967; two of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In April 1967, 887 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 57 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 18E, Line 116
- GEORGE JOHN POLLINMajor · April 29, 1967
- ANTHONY SANSEVERINOCorporal · April 29, 1967
- FELIX F SOTOLance Corporal · April 29, 1967
- MARK LANE STEPHENSENColonel · April 29, 1967
Same unit, same day
- ROGER DALE CAUDILLPrivate First Class · Panel 18E, Line 113
- DONNIE RAY DEHARTPrivate First Class · Panel 18E, Line 113
- MICHAEL JOSEPH OKEEFECorporal · Panel 18E, Line 115
From Renton
- STEVEN ANTHONY CHURCHPrivate First Class · March 5, 1966
- STEVE WILLIAM KINGHAMMERCorporal · January 27, 1967
- DUANE SCOTT BAKERCaptain · June 6, 1967
- RICHARD WILLIAM TOSCHISergeant · July 30, 1967
- JOHN ROBY WOLFPrivate First Class · November 20, 1967
- DONALD CARL NELSONStaff Sergeant · December 14, 1967
- LEONARD MORRIS PHIPPSSpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
- JOHN FRANCIS FRANCAVILLALance Corporal · April 9, 1968
- ROBERT EDWARD HOSKINSLance Corporal · November 25, 1968
- DANIEL JAMES HOLTSergeant · January 18, 1969
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.