The Wall › Panel 42E › Michigan › Edward Louis Kolka
EDWARD LOUIS KOLKA
Sergeant · U.S. Army
April 28, 1947 – March 2, 1968
Service recordEdward Louis Kolka, of Hancock, Michigan, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 2, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 34 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 34
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- April 28, 1947
- Home of record
- Hancock, Michigan (Houghton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 2, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
100 names on the Wall carry the date March 2, 1968; six of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 47 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 42E, Line 34
- CLARENCE S HILLSSergeant · March 2, 1968
- CAL DUAIN JOHNSONSpecialist Four · March 2, 1968
- LAWRENCE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · March 2, 1968
- JACK JOSEPH JORDAN JRPrivate First Class · March 2, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD CHARLES BROWNSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 29
From Hancock
- DENNIS WILFRED MARCOTTEPrivate First Class · September 25, 1967
- JAMES ROBERT LONGStaff Sergeant · July 26, 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.