The Wall › Panel 44E › Tennessee › Estel Denny Spakes
ESTEL DENNY SPAKES
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
October 10, 1936 – March 12, 1968
Service recordEstel Denny Spakes, of Harriman, Tennessee, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 12, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 31
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Radio Operator (05B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- October 10, 1936
- Home of record
- Harriman, Tennessee (Roane County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 12, 1968
- Age
- 31
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 12, 1968; four of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Nam 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 44E, Line 31
- RICHARD JOHN STEWARTSergeant · March 12, 1968
- JOHN RICHARD STROHMAIERSergeant · March 12, 1968
- CARLOS V TREVINOStaff Sergeant · March 12, 1968
- FRANCISCO LUIS VALLESergeant First Class · March 12, 1968
From Harriman
- CLARENCE EDWARD BARNESSergeant · April 11, 1966
- EVERETT WILSON JOHNSON JRPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- JERRY ROGER FERGUSONSergeant · June 13, 1968
- BRADLEY KEITH WATTSPrivate First Class · September 15, 1968
- CHARLES DEAN STRINGFIELDStaff Sergeant · December 10, 1968
- RICHARD LEE PATTERSONFirst Lieutenant · May 29, 1969
- DONALD ROBERT MATHISSergeant · May 28, 1971
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.