The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Francisco Franco.

The Wall › Panel 42E › California › Francisco Franco

FRANCISCO FRANCO

Sergeant · U.S. Army

May 18, 1947 – March 3, 1968

Service record

Francisco Franco, of Orosi, California, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 3, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 51 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 42E · Line 51

Position of Panel 42E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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 (SGT)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
25 INF DIV
Born
May 18, 1947
Home of record
Orosi, California (Tulare County)

Casualty

Date of death
March 3, 1968
Age
20
Province
Gia Dinh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Drowning

Context · from the records

What was happening

65 names on the Wall carry the date March 3, 1968; 18 of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 188 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 42E, Line 51

Same unit, same day

From Orosi

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.