The Wall › Panel 36E › North Carolina › James Arthur Melton JR
JAMES ARTHUR MELTON JR
Corporal · U.S. Army
August 9, 1947 – February 1, 1968
Service recordJames Arthur Melton JR, of Hamilton, North Carolina, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on February 1, 1968, in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 56 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 56
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- August 9, 1947
- Home of record
- Hamilton, North Carolina (Martin County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 1, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Phuoc Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 1, 1968; four of them were lost in Phuoc Long Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Phuoc Long 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 36E, Line 56
- ELBERT HENRY MAXWELLPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- ALFREDO MEDINA JRPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- JACKIE LEE MELTONPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- JAMES JIM PETREYPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
Same unit, same day
- REX ALLAN BOWYERSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 46
- JOHN THOMAS BROWNPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 46
- TERRENCE R FEIGENBUTZSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 48
- PHILIP MICHAEL GERMAINSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 49
- JAMES EDWARD HAMILTONSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 50
- JOSEPH PHILLIP HOLLANDCaptain · Panel 36E, Line 51
- GENE LUTHER KEAHIPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 53
- NORTON ZIGMUND KINGPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 53
- ALPHONSO S MARTINSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 55
- EUGENE VERNON WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 62
- LARRY ELDON WITTLERPrivate · Panel 36E, Line 63
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.