The Wall › Panel 2W › Pennsylvania › James Muir McCracken
JAMES MUIR MCCRACKEN
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
February 11, 1926 – March 31, 1972
Service recordJames Muir McCracken, of Homestead Park, Pennsylvania, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 31, 1972, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 46. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 126 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2W · Line 126
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
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- February 11, 1926
- Home of record
- Homestead Park, Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1972
- Age
- 46
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1972; he was the only one lost in Hua Nghia Province that day. In March 1972, 69 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 5 of its members that month.
He died in Hua Nghia Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 2W, Line 126
- DALE WAYNE FARRISStaff Sergeant · March 31, 1972
- DAVID CHARLES BRUGGEMANFirst Lieutenant · April 1, 1972
- JOHN ANTHONY JELICHChief Warrant Officer 2 · April 1, 1972
- JAMES DOUGLAS OWENSSpecialist Four · April 1, 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.