The Wall › Panel 41E › Iowa › Harry Jay Cornwell
HARRY JAY CORNWELL
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 21, 1947 – February 28, 1968
Service recordHarry Jay Cornwell, of Des Moines, Iowa, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 28, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 62 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 62
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- November 21, 1947
- Home of record
- Des Moines, Iowa (Polk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
91 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1968; three of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 125 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 41E, Line 62
- DONALD NATHANIEL COOPERCorporal · February 28, 1968
- BENJAMIN CRAIG JRStaff Sergeant · February 28, 1968
- GARY LEE CRAMPTONPetty Officer Third Class · February 28, 1968
- THEUS EVERETTE DELAIGLESergeant · February 28, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOHN LEO DENGLERSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 63
- FRANK SARDINASpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 72
From Des Moines
- CONNIE LEROY CHANDLERSergeant · November 20, 1965
- HARRY RICHARD CRUMLEYCaptain · January 25, 1966
- WALTER BOYCE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- MARSHALL MYRON HOLT JRCaptain · March 2, 1966
- STEPHEN PAUL ALSTEDPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- DENNIS ARNOLD MAYCaptain · April 29, 1966
- WILLIAM FREDRICK FREESTONEGunnery Sergeant · July 5, 1966
- JERRY LEE LEONARDISergeant First Class · July 10, 1966
- TERRY PATRICK SLOANPetty Officer First Class · November 9, 1966
- LOREN STEVEN REEVESSpecialist Four · November 11, 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.