The Wall › Panel 42E › California › Gerald Cervantes
GERALD CERVANTES
Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 29, 1949 – February 29, 1968
Service recordGerald Cervantes, of San Jose, California, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 2
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- May 29, 1949
- Home of record
- San Jose, California (Santa Clara County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 42E, Line 2
- JOHN PAUL TOTHSergeant · February 28, 1968
- RICHARD EARL BECKWITHSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- DONALD CHARLES BENNETT JRPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- JAMES FRANCIS COLEMANSergeant · February 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- EARL ERWIN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 4
- PHILLIP DOUGLAS LAFRAMBOISEStaff Sergeant · Panel 42E, Line 7
- ARTHUR JOHN TURKSTRASpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 11
From San Jose
- JOHN WILLIAM IRVING JRFirst Lieutenant · May 8, 1965
- WARREN LESTER ANDERSONCaptain · January 13, 1966
- AUGUSTO MARIA XAVIERFirst Lieutenant · March 10, 1966
- LARRY MICHAEL JORDANLieutenant Commander · April 12, 1966
- RICHARD MICHAEL PATRICKSpecialist Four · May 17, 1966
- GEORGE ALLEN WALDRONPrivate First Class · October 3, 1966
- DALLAS GEORGE GRUNDYPrivate First Class · November 5, 1966
- WILLIAM ALLEN PALENSKEPrivate First Class · November 18, 1966
- RAYMOND BERNAL JRSpecialist Four · November 30, 1966
- WILLIAM DONALD COOK JRSergeant · December 17, 1966
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.