The Wall › Panel 35E › California › Gerald Leroy McKinsey JR
GERALD LEROY MCKINSEY JR
Warrant Officer 1 · U.S. Army
January 28, 1947 – January 21, 1968
Service recordGerald Leroy McKinsey JR, of Modesto, California, served as a Warrant Officer 1 in the U.S. Army. He died on January 21, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 35E, Line 8 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 35E · Line 8
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
- Warrant Officer 1 (WO1)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Helicopter Pilot, Utility And Light Cargo Single Rotor (062B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- January 28, 1947
- Home of record
- Modesto, California (Stanislaus County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 21, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date January 21, 1968; 26 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 33 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 35E, Line 8
- HAROLD F MCGAHACaptain · January 21, 1968
- CHARLES JAMES RAMSAYLieutenant Colonel · January 21, 1968
- THOMAS HOWARD RETSCHULTELance Corporal · January 21, 1968
- JOSEPH PHILLIP SEYMOELieutenant Colonel · January 21, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JERRY W ELLIOTTStaff Sergeant · Panel 35E, Line 5
- BILLY DAVID HILLSergeant First Class · Panel 35E, Line 6
- WILLIAM ARTHUR KIMSEY JRChief Warrant Officer 3 · Panel 35E, Line 7
From Modesto
- ERNEST KAY GERHARDTPrivate First Class · September 18, 1965
- JACK DALE MCCLURECaptain · December 31, 1965
- JOSEPH ANTHONY RANDAZZOLance Corporal · January 31, 1966
- NEAL ARTHUR RASMUSSENStaff Sergeant · May 6, 1966
- JOHN ROY MARKILLIEPetty Officer Third Class · June 21, 1966
- GARY WILLIAM BARTLOWLance Corporal · July 18, 1966
- DONALD CHARLES VAUGHANSpecialist Four · November 13, 1966
- JOHN CHARLES WEBORGCorporal · January 23, 1967
- RICHARD LYNN PARHAMPrivate First Class · January 30, 1967
- ROBERT NICOLAS STAUDSeaman · March 6, 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.