The Wall › Panel 16E › New Jersey › Gerald James Breen
GERALD JAMES BREEN
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 11, 1945 – March 5, 1967
Service recordGerald James Breen, of West New York, New Jersey, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 5, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 16E, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16E · Line 19
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- November 11, 1945
- Home of record
- West New York, New Jersey (Hudson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 5, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
38 names on the Wall carry the date March 5, 1967; he was the only one lost in Tây Ninh Province that day. In March 1967, 1,091 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 78 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault 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 16E, Line 19
- JOSEPH LEONARD BRIDGEPrivate · March 5, 1967
- DEWEY HEARRELL BROWN JRPrivate First Class · March 5, 1967
- REFUGIO JOSE CANTUSergeant · March 5, 1967
- PEDRO LEON JRSergeant · March 5, 1967
Same unit, same day
- DENNIS RAY JENSENPrivate First Class · Panel 16E, Line 21
- DONALD EUGENE WHITEPrivate First Class · Panel 16E, Line 25
From West New York
- BERNARD BARRIOSPrivate First Class · April 6, 1966
- JOHN ANTHONY DABONKAPrivate First Class · February 2, 1967
- JOSEPH ANTHONY FALATOPrivate First Class · February 15, 1967
- EDGAR HENRY VALLECILLOCorporal · June 6, 1967
- THOMAS ANTHONY MCDERMOTTCorporal · December 7, 1967
- NELSON R RAMIREZPrivate First Class · May 5, 1968
- JOSE ALBERTO ORTIZ-BURGOSCorporal · July 23, 1968
- DENNIS JOHN CANNITOSpecialist Four · August 26, 1969
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.