The Wall › Panel 47W › Mississippi › Donald Ray Kerns
DONALD RAY KERNS
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
March 1, 1934 – August 23, 1968
Service recordDonald Ray Kerns, of Lowndes, Mississippi, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on August 23, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 34. His name is inscribed on Panel 47W, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47W · 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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- March 1, 1934
- Home of record
- Lowndes, Mississippi (Lowndes County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 23, 1968
- Age
- 34
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
111 names on the Wall carry the date August 23, 1968; 51 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 30 of its members that month.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 47W, Line 46
- CHARLIE EDWARD KEMPSergeant First Class · August 23, 1968
- JAMES THOMAS KICKLITERSergeant · August 23, 1968
- HAROLD JOHN KLUSENDORFLance Corporal · August 23, 1968
- CHESTER RAY MCCLELLANDCorporal · August 23, 1968
Same unit, same day
- TALMADGE HORTON ALPHIN JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 47W, Line 36
- WILLIAM HENRY BRIC IIIPrivate First Class · Panel 47W, Line 38
- JAMES THOMAS KICKLITERSergeant · Panel 47W, Line 46
- TADEUSZ MARIAN KEPCZYKSergeant First Class · Panel 47W, Line 50
- CHARLES RAYMOND NORRISMaster Sergeant · Panel 47W, Line 51
- RICHARD EPPS PEGRAM JRSergeant Major · Panel 47W, Line 51
- PAUL D POTTERFirst Lieutenant · Panel 47W, Line 51
- ROLF ERNST RICKMERSMaster Sergeant · Panel 47W, Line 52
- ANTHONY JOHN SANTANASpecialist Four · Panel 47W, Line 53
- JAMES WARREN SMITHSergeant · Panel 47W, Line 53
- GILBERT ARTHUR SECORMaster Sergeant · Panel 47W, Line 54
- ROBERT JOSEPH UYESAKASergeant · Panel 47W, Line 56
- HOWARD STEVEN VARNIStaff Sergeant · Panel 47W, Line 56
- HAROLD ROBERT VOORHEISSergeant First Class · Panel 47W, Line 57
- ALBERT MARION WALTERSergeant First Class · Panel 47W, Line 57
- DONALD WALTER WELCHSergeant First Class · Panel 47W, Line 57
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.