The Wall › Panel 45E › Indiana › Franklin A Sappingfield
FRANKLIN A SAPPINGFIELD
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 29, 1946 – March 20, 1968
Service recordFranklin A Sappingfield, of Terre Haute, Indiana, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 20, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 42
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 Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- August 29, 1946
- Home of record
- Terre Haute, Indiana (Vigo County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 20, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date March 20, 1968; two of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum 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 45E, Line 42
- JAMES ALAN PATTONSergeant · March 20, 1968
- GARY DEWAYNE REEDSergeant · March 20, 1968
- ALAN RICHARD ROBERTSSpecialist Four · March 20, 1968
- MARION NELSON SALTZPrivate First Class · March 20, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DENNIS RICHARD CANTLERCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 38
- DAVID ALLEN MADDUXCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 41
- JAMES ALAN PATTONSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 42
From Terre Haute
- EUGENE RUSSELL FOWLERCaptain · April 27, 1965
- PAUL LOUIS LEMAYSergeant · October 18, 1965
- HERMAN RICHARD MENEELYPrivate First Class · June 11, 1966
- ROBERT RAY MYLESStaff Sergeant · July 25, 1966
- JAMES WALTER SIMSStaff Sergeant · September 9, 1966
- PEARL WAYNE MYERSPrivate First Class · March 16, 1967
- QUENTIN RIPPETOE BEECHERChief Warrant Officer 3 · June 11, 1967
- JAMES EDWARD GISHCorporal · October 25, 1967
- STEPHEN PERRY JONESSergeant · October 27, 1967
- WILLIAM H RICHARDSON JRPrivate First Class · November 10, 1967
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.