The Wall › Panel 36E › California › Don Prien
DON PRIEN
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 23, 1945 – January 31, 1968
Service recordDon Prien, of Palo Alto, California, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 23
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
- Medical Specialist (91B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 198 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- February 23, 1945
- Home of record
- Palo Alto, California (Santa Clara County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; nine of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 198th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 22 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Tín 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 36E, Line 23
- REGINALD VICTOR MAISEY JRCaptain · January 31, 1968
- ANTHONY GILBERT MALDONADOPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- MARTIN MARQUEZ JRPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- FLOYD BROWN SPENCER JRMajor · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD EDWARD OCONNERPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 29
- MICHAEL ANTHONY MANGIOLARDOPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 31
From Palo Alto
- GORDON LEE PAGEColonel · March 7, 1966
- RODNEY CLEVELAND UPCHURCHPrivate First Class · July 29, 1966
- ROGER C HALLBERGSergeant First Class · March 24, 1967
- KIERAN JOHN STARRPrivate First Class · June 25, 1967
- DAVID JOHN UCKERLance Corporal · October 11, 1967
- RICHARD ARLAN STONESergeant · November 6, 1967
- MICHAEL DURYEA LEEPrivate First Class · May 2, 1968
- JOHN DENIS PETERSCorporal · May 29, 1968
- PAUL ROSARIO LOFORTIWarrant Officer 1 · November 23, 1968
- EDWARD JOSEPH SCALISESergeant First Class · December 21, 1968
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.