The Wall › Panel 41E › Kentucky › Ernest Chaffins JR
ERNEST CHAFFINS JR
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 4, 1942 – February 26, 1968
Service recordErnest Chaffins JR, of Hitchins, Kentucky, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 26, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 36 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 36
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Crewman (11E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- May 4, 1942
- Home of record
- Hitchins, Kentucky (Carter County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 26, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
63 names on the Wall carry the date February 26, 1968; eight 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 41E, Line 36
- ROBERT WILSON BROWN JRCaptain · February 26, 1968
- WILLIAM DAVID CHOIPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
- MICHAEL COTTONPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
- ROBERT STUART CRAGIN JRFirst Lieutenant · February 26, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CALVIN HART BIGGERSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 35
- MICHAEL COTTONPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 36
- JAY CEE DYERSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 37
- STEVEN VICTOR GOLDSTEINPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 38
- ROBERT ALLEN JANSSergeant · Panel 41E, Line 39
- ANTHONY LAROCCOPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 39
- ISMAEL MENENDEZ-OCASIOPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 41
- MARK EDWARD POLICASTROPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 42
- ROBERT LEE WALKERPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 45
- JOSEPH ANTHONY ZUNIGACorporal · Panel 41E, Line 46
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.