The Wall › Panel 38E › Michigan › Howard Leroy Painter
HOWARD LEROY PAINTER
Private First Class · U.S. Army
May 27, 1942 – February 10, 1968
Service recordHoward Leroy Painter, of Rothbury, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 10, 1968, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 70 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 70
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)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- May 27, 1942
- Home of record
- Rothbury, Michigan (Oceana County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 10, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
54 names on the Wall carry the date February 10, 1968; three of them were lost in Hua Nghia Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 232 of its members that month.
He died in Hua Nghia 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 70
- BOBBY DANIEL MATHENYStaff Sergeant · February 10, 1968
- STEPHEN DARRELL MAZZASpecialist Four · February 10, 1968
- JOHN JAMES MCELROYPrivate First Class · February 10, 1968
- WILLIE B MCNEILLSpecialist Four · February 10, 1968
Same unit, same day
- IGNACIO ALVAREZ JRSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 64
- RICHARD MEREDITH ANDERSONPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 64
- CLARENCE RAY HOLTSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 65
- EARNEST WESLEY CARAWAYSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 66
- GARY STEVEN CHRISTENBURYPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 66
- KENNETH LEE DEVORSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 67
- GERALD THOMAS GALLAGHERPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 67
- ROBERT ROGER GRAYSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 67
- HUGH RICHARD JOHNSON JRSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 68
- FRANCIS KAIRAITISSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 69
- BOBBY DANIEL MATHENYStaff Sergeant · Panel 38E, Line 70
- WILLIE B MCNEILLSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 70
- WILLIE CHARLES TORRENCEPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 73
- ALBERTIS WILLIAMSONCorporal · Panel 38E, Line 74
- CHESTER WAYNE WILSONPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 74
- JAMES DAVID WILSONCorporal · Panel 38E, Line 74
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.