The Wall › Panel 40E › Alabama › Cornelius Pressley
CORNELIUS PRESSLEY
Private First Class · U.S. Army
April 11, 1949 – February 22, 1968
Service recordCornelius Pressley, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 22, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 67 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 67
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- April 11, 1949
- Home of record
- Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 22, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 22, 1968; 27 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle 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 40E, Line 67
- ELVAIN ENNIS NIOUSSergeant · February 22, 1968
- BERNARD JOHN NOVAKStaff Sergeant · February 22, 1968
- LARRY DEAN POWELLSpecialist Four · February 22, 1968
- FRED REAVES JRSergeant · February 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- SAMUEL LEE ANDERTONSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 57
- CHARLES WILLIAM CLINESpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 59
- MICHAEL STEPHEN COLLINSSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 59
- JAMES STEPHEN COMBSSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 60
- JON ALBERT JULIASergeant · Panel 40E, Line 64
- JAMES ANTHONY KOCHPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 64
- ROLAND PHILLIP LEVESQUESergeant · Panel 40E, Line 65
- HERMAN MCGEEPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 66
- JOE MELVIN NEILLPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 66
- FRED REAVES JRSergeant · Panel 40E, Line 67
- GEORGE JOSEPH SCHULTZSpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 68
- JERRY WALTON SMITHPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 69
- EDWARD ZAMORASpecialist Four · Panel 40E, Line 71
From Birmingham
- SHERMAN ELLIOT WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · July 9, 1965
- CARL WILLIAM MANNPrivate First Class · September 21, 1965
- ROBERT WARREN ALLENPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- GENE WILLIAM WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · October 12, 1965
- JAMES J HOWARDSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- CLEO LOCKETTCorporal · November 8, 1965
- HAROLD JAMES BATTLEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1965
- HAROLD EUGENE WATKINSLance Corporal · November 12, 1965
- CHARLES WILLIAM STOREYStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD EARL HARPERSpecialist Four · January 12, 1966
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.