The Wall › Panel 38E › New Mexico › George Eloy Tafoya
GEORGE ELOY TAFOYA
Private First Class · U.S. Army
April 14, 1944 – February 11, 1968
Service recordGeorge Eloy Tafoya, of La Joya, New Mexico, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 11, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 82 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 82
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 199 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- April 14, 1944
- Home of record
- La Joya, New Mexico (Santa Fe County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 11, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
44 names on the Wall carry the date February 11, 1968; seven of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 199th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 42 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 38E, Line 82
- JAMES E TINSLEYSpecialist Four · February 11, 1968
- ROBERT LAWRENCE TURNERFirst Sergeant · February 11, 1968
- GARRY FRANCIS VICKERYSpecialist Four · February 11, 1968
- DANIEL JOHN VILLEGASPlatoon Sergeant · February 11, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RONALD S BAGENSpecialist Five · Panel 38E, Line 75
- JOSEPH PERRY BOWLINGSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 75
- ADALBERTO CACERESSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 76
- DONALD REGINALD COLSONSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 76
- JAMES E TINSLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 82
- GARRY FRANCIS VICKERYSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 82
- FLOYD VOYLESPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 1
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.