The Wall › Panel 5E › Iowa › James Byron Laird
JAMES BYRON LAIRD
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
April 13, 1944 – February 28, 1966
Service recordJames Byron Laird, of Davenport, Iowa, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 28, 1966, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5E, Line 87 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5E · Line 87
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- April 13, 1944
- Home of record
- Davenport, Iowa (Scott County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1966
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1966; 16 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1966, 513 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Also on Panel 5E, Line 87
- RICHARD RONALD HERCHKORNSergeant · February 28, 1966
- RAYMOND EILERT MEYERSSergeant · February 28, 1966
- KENNETH DALE MIDDLETONSpecialist Four · February 28, 1966
- MARK LAKE MORGANLance Corporal · February 28, 1966
From Davenport
- ROBERT J VOSSCaptain · July 8, 1965
- JERRY PROSPER CLARKChief Warrant Officer 3 · December 15, 1965
- JOSEPH ALLEN SCHWERDTFEGERSergeant · May 3, 1966
- NORBERT GENE SIMMONSSergeant · June 15, 1966
- CHARLES ALLEN MORSELance Corporal · March 27, 1967
- CARL JOHN OLSONLance Corporal · July 29, 1967
- GARY KEITH RATHPrivate First Class · September 1, 1967
- MICHAEL JOSEPH UTTERWarrant Officer 1 · November 21, 1967
- DONALD LOUIS FLEETWOODPrivate First Class · December 10, 1967
- DANIEL LEE WISELYSpecialist Four · January 6, 1968
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.