The Wall › Panel 47E › North Carolina › Dennis Michael Poteat
DENNIS MICHAEL POTEAT
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 28, 1942 – March 30, 1968
Service recordDennis Michael Poteat, of Marion, North Carolina, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 30, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 17
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV
- Born
- May 28, 1942
- Home of record
- Marion, North Carolina (Mcdowell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 30, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date March 30, 1968; 30 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV”, his unit in the record, lost 20 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 47E, Line 17
- GERALD ANTHONY SCHIROCorporal · March 30, 1968
- CHARLES E SHAWSpecialist Four · March 30, 1968
- AUTHOR C SMITHLance Corporal · March 30, 1968
- KENNETH ROMAINE TOTTEN JRPrivate First Class · March 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- PATRICK KEVIN BURKECorporal · Panel 47E, Line 9
- PETER JOSEPH GALLOFirst Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 10
- GEORGE EDWARD GRUBBSCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 11
- BERT AUSTIN KEELERSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 12
- JAMES EARL MORSECorporal · Panel 47E, Line 14
- CHARLES E SHAWSpecialist Four · Panel 47E, Line 17
- STEPHAN MAX WIGGINSSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 18
- WILBUR LEO WILLIAMS JRPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 18
From Marion
- JOHN EDWARD MCMAHANPrivate First Class · May 5, 1966
- GETER ALFRED HENSLEYPetty Officer Second Class · November 12, 1967
- JERRY WILLIAM GILLIANDSpecialist Four · January 6, 1968
- DWIGHT EDGAR MOONEYSergeant · August 8, 1968
- BILL FRED WILLIAMS JRSpecialist Four · January 8, 1969
- JAMES ALEX JENKINSCorporal · May 20, 1969
- MICHAEL DEAN WEBBPrivate First Class · July 6, 1969
- JERRY LANE GREENESpecialist Five · November 26, 1969
- HAROLD DEAN HOLLIFIELDCorporal · August 14, 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.