The Wall › Panel 5E › New Mexico › Daniel Fernandez
DANIEL FERNANDEZ
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
June 30, 1944 – February 18, 1966
Medal of Honor StoryPortrait: U.S. Army, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Daniel Fernandez, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 18, 1966, in South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5E, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Medal of Honor · awarded posthumously
For conspicuous gallantry
Daniel Fernandez received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions on February 18, 1966.
Citation text as reproduced in Wikipedia’s article on Daniel Fernandez; Medal of Honor citations are official U.S. government records. See also the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and all Medal of Honor recipients on the Wall.
On the Wall
Panel 5E · Line 46
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- June 30, 1944
- Home of record
- Los Lunas, New Mexico (Valencia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1966
- Age
- 21
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
30 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1966. In February 1966, 513 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 53 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 5E, Line 46
- REYNALDO ROY CAVAZOSPrivate First Class · February 18, 1966
- CAROL ANN ELIZABET DRAZBASecond Lieutenant · February 18, 1966
- ANDREW ALBERT GRAZIANOPrivate First Class · February 18, 1966
- PATRICK JAMES HARRISPrivate First Class · February 18, 1966
Same unit, same day
- JOSEPH TATEM BENTONSpecialist Four · Panel 5E, Line 44
- DAMION RANDOLPH HILTSSpecialist Four · Panel 5E, Line 45
From Los Lunas
- JOSE BERNARDINO GONZALESPrivate First Class · December 9, 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. The Medal of Honor citation above is the official account of his actions. See something wrong? Report a correction.