The Wall › Panel 39W › New York › Ernest Melvin Plattner
ERNEST MELVIN PLATTNER
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
May 28, 1945 – November 8, 1968
Service recordErnest Melvin Plattner, of Marathon, New York, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on November 8, 1968, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 39W, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39W · Line 37
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- May 28, 1945
- Home of record
- Marathon, New York (Cortland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 8, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date November 8, 1968; four of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In November 1968, 918 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 96 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 39W, Line 37
- JOHN HULSEY HAYSCaptain · November 8, 1968
- DONALD JOSEPH HERTRICKCorporal · November 8, 1968
- MITCHELL LEWIS JOLYLance Corporal · November 8, 1968
- JOHN EDWIN LUTZEPrivate First Class · November 8, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES ALLEN HARDMANSergeant · Panel 39W, Line 36
- DONALD JOSEPH HERTRICKCorporal · Panel 39W, Line 37
- JOHN EDWIN LUTZEPrivate First Class · Panel 39W, Line 37
From Marathon
- EUGENE EARL HENRYCorporal · February 6, 1968
- DARRELL ADEN CAMERONCorporal · March 28, 1970
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.