The Wall › Panel 15E › Florida › Earley Joseph Messer
EARLEY JOSEPH MESSER
Corporal · U.S. Army
September 23, 1944 – February 23, 1967
Service recordEarley Joseph Messer, of Seffner, Florida, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on February 23, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 15E, Line 81 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 15E · Line 81
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Wireman (36A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- September 23, 1944
- Home of record
- Seffner, Florida (Hillsborough County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 23, 1967
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
21 names on the Wall carry the date February 23, 1967; 11 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In February 1967, 767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 15E, Line 81
- PATRICK JOSEPH MICHAELSpecialist Four · February 23, 1967
- LANDON CLAIR RAYStaff Sergeant · February 23, 1967
- FRANK RICHARD SILLSPrivate First Class · February 23, 1967
- RANDALL EDWARD WALKERStaff Sergeant · February 23, 1967
- ALBERT BOYD AYRESMajor · February 24, 1967
Same unit, same day
- LARRY WILLIAM BRENDELSpecialist Four · Panel 15E, Line 77
- JULIAN WAYNE COUCHPlatoon Sergeant · Panel 15E, Line 78
- HOWARD DEXTER GERSHENPrivate First Class · Panel 15E, Line 79
From Seffner
- DONALD J REYNOLDSCaptain · July 8, 1967
- FRAZIER DANIEL HUGGINSCorporal · July 10, 1967
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.