The Wall › Panel 39E › Arizona › James Lee Coker
JAMES LEE COKER
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 30, 1947 – February 12, 1968
Service recordJames Lee Coker, of Phoenix, Arizona, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 12, 1968, in Quang Duc Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 3 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 3
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- November 30, 1947
- Home of record
- Phoenix, Arizona (Maricopa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 12, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Duc
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
73 names on the Wall carry the date February 12, 1968; ten of them were lost in Quang Duc Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 24 of its members that month.
He died in Quang Duc 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 39E, Line 3
- GARY RAY CATESCorporal · February 12, 1968
- ALVIN RAY CHURCHSpecialist Four · February 12, 1968
- GREGORY C CONANTSergeant · February 12, 1968
- TERRY MELVIN CURTISPrivate First Class · February 12, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ELVESTER HESTER JRPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 6
- GEOVEL LOPEZ-GARCIACorporal · Panel 39E, Line 8
- BOBBY COLLINS SUTHERLANDSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 13
- JAMES PAUL VOJIRPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 14
- RICHARD EDWARD WAGNERSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 15
From Phoenix
- DURWARD DEAN GOSNEYMajor · October 7, 1964
- CHARLES ALVA DALEMajor · June 9, 1965
- WILBURN DANIEL FELKINSCorporal · July 30, 1965
- LEE E ANDERSONSergeant · September 19, 1965
- DERRELL BLACKBUR JEFFORDSColonel · December 24, 1965
- JOHNNY HOWARD GODFREYCaptain · January 11, 1966
- GEORGE A HOAGLAND IIIStaff Sergeant · January 29, 1966
- JACK LANDEN HIMESPrivate First Class · February 26, 1966
- ROY JOHN HIGGINS JRCorporal · March 5, 1966
- DARRELL LEE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · March 5, 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.