The Wall › Panel 44E › North Carolina › Christopher Hiawatha Bell
CHRISTOPHER HIAWATHA BELL
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 26, 1948 – March 16, 1968
Service recordChristopher Hiawatha Bell, of Clinton, North Carolina, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 16, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 65
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- January 26, 1948
- Home of record
- Clinton, North Carolina (Sampson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 16, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date March 16, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 44E, Line 65
- EDWARD JOSEPH ARIAZPrivate First Class · March 16, 1968
- ELBERT ANDREW BALLANCECorporal · March 16, 1968
- JAMES HAROLD BEAVERSpecialist Four · March 16, 1968
- CARL HANS BERNHARTCorporal · March 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ELBERT ANDREW BALLANCECorporal · Panel 44E, Line 65
- ROBERT LEE BODINEStaff Sergeant · Panel 44E, Line 66
- DENNIS ROBERT CARRFirst Lieutenant · Panel 44E, Line 66
- BOGARD LAFAYETTE FLOYDStaff Sergeant · Panel 45E, Line 1
- GARY PATRICK HADLEYSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 1
- YOUNG DAVID OGLETREESergeant · Panel 45E, Line 2
- BRUCE WAYNE LOISELLEPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 3
- JAY DARRELL MCMURPHYSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 4
- THOMAS WILLIAM SCOTTCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 5
- HENRY JOSEPH SERVENT JRSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 5
From Clinton
- HOWARD CECIL WESTSpecialist Four · December 11, 1966
- ELBERT THOMAS WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · July 14, 1967
- KENNETH PETE WILSONSpecialist Four · October 17, 1967
- CHARLES LONNELL MCLAURINPrivate First Class · April 24, 1968
- LAWRENCE MOBLEYPrivate First Class · May 4, 1968
- SAMUEL EDWARD BRYANTPrivate First Class · September 17, 1968
- KERMIT LOUIS WILLIAMSSergeant · September 18, 1968
- JAMES RICHARD DANIELSSergeant · July 27, 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.