The Wall › Panel 34E › Iowa › James Derwin Cohron
JAMES DERWIN COHRON
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
November 11, 1938 – January 12, 1968
Service recordJames Derwin Cohron, of Centerville, Iowa, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He was lost on January 12, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 34E, Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 34E · Line 35
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- November 11, 1938
- Home of record
- Centerville, Iowa (Appanoose County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 12, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
34 names on the Wall carry the date January 12, 1968. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 24 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 34E, Line 35
- JACKY RAY COUCHPetty Officer Third Class · January 12, 1968
- LEE ROGER DANIELSONSergeant · January 12, 1968
- ROY WILLIAM EDWARDSPlatoon Sergeant · January 12, 1968
- WILLIAM OSCA POFFENBARGERPrivate First Class · January 12, 1968
From Centerville
- RICHARD EARLE DONAHUECommander · October 26, 1966
- DENNIS MARTIN CRAVERStaff Sergeant · April 26, 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.