The Wall › Panel 42E › Missouri › James Francis Coleman
JAMES FRANCIS COLEMAN
Sergeant · U.S. Army
August 4, 1947 – February 29, 1968
Service recordJames Francis Coleman, of Festus, Missouri, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 2
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- August 4, 1947
- Home of record
- Festus, Missouri (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; two of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 140 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum 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 42E, Line 2
- JOHN PAUL TOTHSergeant · February 28, 1968
- RICHARD EARL BECKWITHSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- DONALD CHARLES BENNETT JRPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- GERALD CERVANTESSergeant · February 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- VERNON JOSEPH MILLER JRCorporal · Panel 42E, Line 7
From Festus
- GARY W PRATHERPrivate First Class · December 29, 1966
- JOSEPH WALTER MORRISONSpecialist Four · March 14, 1967
- THOMAS ALAN BACKYPrivate First Class · February 9, 1968
- FRANCIS EDWIN CORTOR JRSergeant · October 21, 1969
- WILLIAM JOSEPH PERRYMANSpecialist Five · November 19, 1970
- JAMES BRADDOCK HARRISSpecialist Four · April 24, 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.