The Wall › Panel 45E › Texas › James Eugene Laird
JAMES EUGENE LAIRD
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Army
September 30, 1946 – March 23, 1968
Service recordJames Eugene Laird, of Texarkana, Texas, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 23, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 62 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 62
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
- Second Lieutenant (2LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- September 30, 1946
- Home of record
- Texarkana, Texas (Bowie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 23, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
23 names on the Wall carry the date March 23, 1968; two of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 28 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi 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.
Also on Panel 45E, Line 62
- RANDALL EARL COLESpecialist Four · March 23, 1968
- RONNIE CHARLES CURETONLance Corporal · March 23, 1968
- THOMAS EDWARD DONOVANPrivate First Class · March 23, 1968
- VERNON LEROY DOWNS JRCorporal · March 23, 1968
From Texarkana
- DEANE ALVA POMEROYWarrant Officer 1 · May 30, 1964
- RICHARD EDWARD STEELMajor · November 4, 1965
- RODNEY JOSEPH WILSONSpecialist Five · September 3, 1966
- ODDIE C HAILEYSergeant · June 23, 1967
- ELMORE ROBERT SIMPSONPlatoon Sergeant · March 28, 1968
- WAYNE LYNN HARLANDSergeant · May 1, 1968
- ISAAC LEE HENDERSONCorporal · July 22, 1968
- HOWARD LEE ELDERSergeant · July 8, 1970
- STEPHEN OWEN MUSSELMANLieutenant · September 10, 1972
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.