The Wall › Panel 47E › Illinois › Harold Eugene Penson
HAROLD EUGENE PENSON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 2, 1946 – March 29, 1968
Service recordHarold Eugene Penson, of Chicago, Illinois, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 29, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 4
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- December 2, 1946
- Home of record
- Chicago, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 29, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date March 29, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 47E, Line 4
- DAVID LEE HINZCorporal · March 29, 1968
- MAURICE THOMAS NOELPrivate · March 29, 1968
- GEORGE ADAM OWENSPrivate First Class · March 29, 1968
- MARVIN EUGENE PENRYSergeant · March 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CARL LEE CARSONSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 62
- MICHAEL LEE GANDYSecond Lieutenant · Panel 46E, Line 62
- ANIELLO CARLOS NUNZIATOCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 1
- JOSE MEDRANO JRCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 2
- MARVIN EUGENE PENRYSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 4
- MANUEL RUIZCorporal · Panel 47E, Line 5
- GARY ARNOLD SCOTTSecond Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 5
- FRANK LOUIS RODRIGUEZSecond Lieutenant · Panel 47E, Line 6
- CONNIE VERGEL WELLSSergeant · Panel 47E, Line 6
- PAUL EDWARD WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 7
From Chicago
- MELVIN LESTER WATERSPrivate · February 10, 1965
- WILLIAM RALPH FUHRMANPetty Officer Third Class · April 23, 1965
- RAYMOND LEON HORNCorporal · May 1, 1965
- ARTHUR C JEPSON JRCaptain · May 16, 1965
- DONALD CLAY DEDMONStaff Sergeant · June 10, 1965
- ROGER PELIKANLance Corporal · July 17, 1965
- HARRY COHENTechnical Sergeant · July 19, 1969
- CURTIS LOCKHARTPrivate First Class · July 30, 1965
- EDWARD KOPECPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- JAMES LEO WHITELance Corporal · August 19, 1965
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.