The Wall › Panel 40E › Pennsylvania › James Phillip Harkanson
JAMES PHILLIP HARKANSON
Private · U.S. Marine Corps
October 27, 1946 – February 18, 1968
Service recordJames Phillip Harkanson, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as a Private in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 18, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 6
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private (PVT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- October 27, 1946
- Home of record
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
85 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1968; 19 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 40E, Line 6
- DENNIS FRANCIS HAHNSpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
- LAWRENCE EVERETT HAMESLance Corporal · February 18, 1968
- RICHARD MARK HAMMONDSpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
- DAVID WILLIAM HECKSergeant · February 18, 1968
From Philadelphia
- MEIR ENGELLieutenant Colonel · December 16, 1964
- MATTHEW N HARRIS JRMaster Sergeant · May 28, 1965
- ALLEN CONRAD HERTZFirst Lieutenant · June 6, 1965
- MILO BENETT STIBBINSSpecialist Five · June 11, 1965
- JOSEPH PATRICK GRUGANCorporal · June 26, 1965
- ROWLAND JOSEPH ADAMOLICorporal · August 18, 1965
- FRANK AMOS HENISSPrivate First Class · September 7, 1965
- EARL CHARLES WILLOUGHBYChief Master Sergeant · September 7, 1965
- WILLIAM A MITCHELL IIPetty Officer Third Class · September 12, 1965
- WILLIAM GREGORY MAURONEPrivate First Class · September 30, 1965
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.