The Wall › Panel 42E › California › James Carl McPhearson
JAMES CARL MCPHEARSON
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
August 13, 1948 – February 29, 1968
Service recordJames Carl McPhearson, of Long Beach, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 29, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 5
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
- August 13, 1948
- Home of record
- Long Beach, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; eight of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 42E, Line 5
- CROSLEY JAMES FITTON JRLieutenant Colonel · February 29, 1968
- HARRY IVAN FUQUA JRPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- PHILIP F GREENESpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- RICHARD JAMES GROATPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
From Long Beach
- PETER ANTHONY SEMMERPrivate First Class · February 11, 1965
- RICHARD GRAHAM ALLENPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- IVAN JOSEPH BROYLESSergeant · April 21, 1966
- RICHARD EYRE CROWELance Corporal · May 29, 1966
- FRANZ GERHARD PREDIGERSpecialist Four · June 30, 1966
- ANTHONY ROBERT BOSHPrivate First Class · September 7, 1966
- GERALD JOHNSONPrivate First Class · November 15, 1966
- MICHAEL PAUL MCCONAHAYPrivate First Class · November 23, 1966
- EDMOND SANMARCOSPrivate First Class · December 19, 1966
- MARSHAL LYNN HORTONSpecialist Four · December 25, 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.