The Wall › Panel 38E › Iowa › Gordon John Wetjen
GORDON JOHN WETJEN
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
March 27, 1947 – February 7, 1968
Service recordGordon John Wetjen, of Homestead, Iowa, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 7, 1968, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 18
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- March 27, 1947
- Home of record
- Homestead, Iowa (Iowa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 7, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
136 names on the Wall carry the date February 7, 1968; four of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 40 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Tín 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 18
- ROBERT JAMES WEBBLance Corporal · February 7, 1968
- DAVID EARL WEDHORNPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
- VORIN EDWIN WHAN JRLieutenant Colonel · February 7, 1968
- ALBERT DEWELL WHITECorporal · February 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES EDWIN BENNETTSergeant · Panel 37E, Line 78
- LIONEL BUTLER SRStaff Sergeant · Panel 37E, Line 79
- ISMAEL HOLGUINSpecialist Four · Panel 37E, Line 84
- ANGEL MARTINEZCorporal · Panel 38E, Line 6
- ROGER DILLON MCQUAYCorporal · Panel 38E, Line 8
- LEWIS JEWETT NEWBERRYSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 8
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.