The Wall › Panel 37E › Michigan › Christopher Edwin Lyon
CHRISTOPHER EDWIN LYON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
July 15, 1947 – February 5, 1968
Service recordChristopher Edwin Lyon, of Coldwater, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 5, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 39 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 39
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. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Oh-13/Oh-23 Helicopter Repairman (67M)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- July 15, 1947
- Home of record
- Coldwater, Michigan (Branch County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 5, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
83 names on the Wall carry the date February 5, 1968; six of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 125 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 37E, Line 39
- NORMAN OTTIS COPELANDCorporal · February 5, 1968
- JAMES ALLEN LOWERYPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
- DAVID MICHAEL MABERYSpecialist Four · February 5, 1968
- THOMAS ANDREW MARCHUTPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROGER DUANE ALBERTSPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 30
- RAYMOND NELSON CURLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 37E, Line 34
- THEODORE ARTHUR PAPKEWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 37E, Line 42
From Coldwater
- EUGENE WILLIAM CASWELLWarrant Officer 1 · May 27, 1966
- AUGUST HAROLD MONHOFCorporal · December 5, 1967
- RALPH LAVERNE GREENPetty Officer First Class · September 18, 1968
- REX FRANKLIN NELSON JRStaff Sergeant · May 10, 1969
- HAROLD FREDRICK HAWKINSCorporal · June 18, 1969
- GENE BERTAN NICKERSONLieutenant (junior grade) · February 26, 1970
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.