The Wall › Panel 39E › California › Donald Huston Coleman
DONALD HUSTON COLEMAN
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
April 14, 1943 – February 13, 1968
Service recordDonald Huston Coleman, of Healdsburg, California, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 13, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 18
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
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- April 14, 1943
- Home of record
- Healdsburg, California (Sonoma County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 13, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
60 names on the Wall carry the date February 13, 1968; four of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 232 of its members that month.
He died in Hua Nghia 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 39E, Line 18
- EUGENE MICHAEL CAMPIONSergeant · February 13, 1968
- RODNEY SALVADOR CANTOHOSCorporal · February 13, 1968
- JOHN LEROY CAREYLance Corporal · February 13, 1968
- ROBERT JOHN CHAMBERSSpecialist Four · February 13, 1968
Same unit, same day
- FRANCIS IGNATIUS ARNETTSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 16
- LARRY WAYNE BARNARDSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 17
- ROBERT JOHN CHAMBERSSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 18
- DONALD LETASecond Lieutenant · Panel 39E, Line 22
- HARRY FRANK EDWARD PEEPLESSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 24
- ALEX ROBERT TOLPAROFFSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 27
From Healdsburg
- WILLIAM EUGENE MONTGOMERYSpecialist Four · August 9, 1965
- CLINTON RUSSELL ANDERSONSecond Lieutenant · February 22, 1966
- ROBERT EDWIN RUONAVAARAAirman First Class · March 29, 1967
- WILLIAM DEWEY THOMPSON JRPetty Officer Second Class · December 15, 1967
- THOMAS MILES PHILLIPSCorporal · September 13, 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.