The Wall › Panel 1W › Tennessee › Charles Turner
CHARLES TURNER
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
May 3, 1948 – April 20, 1972
Service recordCharles Turner, of Somerville, Tennessee, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on April 20, 1972, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · 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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Tactical Wire Operations Specialist (36K)
- Unit (as recorded)
- US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
- Born
- May 3, 1948
- Home of record
- Somerville, Tennessee (Fayette County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 20, 1972
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
Five names on the Wall carry the date April 20, 1972; he was the only one lost in Quảng Trị Province that day. In April 1972, 106 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 14 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 4
- THOMAS HUGH AMOSMajor · April 20, 1972
- MASON IRWIN BURNHAMCaptain · April 20, 1972
- WILBUR HERBERT CHILDRESSSergeant Major · April 20, 1972
- JOHN JOSEPH STEGELAND IIISeaman · April 20, 1972
Same unit, same day
- WILBUR HERBERT CHILDRESSSergeant Major · Panel 1W, Line 4
From Somerville
- SIMON DEAN JRSpecialist Four · April 29, 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.