The Wall › Panel 41E › Illinois › Donnell Bell
DONNELL BELL
Private · U.S. Army
August 9, 1949 – February 25, 1968
Service recordDonnell Bell, of Venice, Illinois, served as a Private in the U.S. Army. He died on February 25, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 16 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 16
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
- Private (PVT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- August 9, 1949
- Home of record
- Venice, Illinois (Madison County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 25, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 25, 1968; four of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 25 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi 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 41E, Line 16
- LAWRENCE FREDERICK BEALSSergeant First Class · February 25, 1968
- JAMES E BENTLEY JRPrivate First Class · February 25, 1968
- FREDERICK A BILLINGHAM JRCorporal · February 25, 1968
- JAMES CURTIS BLOUNTSpecialist Four · February 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- BOBBY WILSONSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 33
From Venice
- MELVIN JOHN FREISEPrivate First Class · April 23, 1969
- GARY LEE WALLENPrivate First Class · May 31, 1969
- ROBERT JAMES MCINTOSHSpecialist Four · December 2, 1969
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.