The Wall › Panel 44E › Tennessee › Howard Palma Petty
HOWARD PALMA PETTY
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Army
October 9, 1930 – March 15, 1968
Service recordHoward Palma Petty, of Pulaski, Tennessee, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. He died on March 15, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 37. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 61 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 61
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- October 9, 1930
- Home of record
- Pulaski, Tennessee (Giles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 15, 1968
- Age
- 37
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date March 15, 1968; eight of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 104 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 44E, Line 61
- WALTER LEE MCCAHANLieutenant Colonel · March 15, 1968
- ROGER TILTON NELSONLance Corporal · March 15, 1968
- WALTER JOHN PANAMAROFFFirst Lieutenant · March 15, 1968
- JAMES BURNELL RICKELSSeaman · March 15, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RONALD ELMER JOHNSStaff Sergeant · Panel 44E, Line 59
- WALTER LEE MCCAHANLieutenant Colonel · Panel 44E, Line 61
- WALTER JOHN PANAMAROFFFirst Lieutenant · Panel 44E, Line 61
- ROBERT SMEALSergeant · Panel 44E, Line 62
- WILLIAM SMYLY WILLIAMS JRPrivate First Class · Panel 44E, Line 63
From Pulaski
- BYRON DWAYNE HAMLETTSergeant First Class · March 10, 1967
- THOMAS LEE MCELROYPrivate First Class · July 5, 1968
- LEONARD DWIGHT CUNNINGHAMChief Warrant Officer 2 · March 12, 1970
- JOHNIE KENNETH WOODARDSpecialist Five · April 25, 1971
- LOWELL THOMAS GLOSSUPSergeant First Class · May 20, 1971
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.