The Wall › Panel 25W › Alabama › James Rayford Gohagin
JAMES RAYFORD GOHAGIN
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
October 31, 1947 – May 13, 1969
Service recordJames Rayford Gohagin, of Atmore, Alabama, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on May 13, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 25W, Line 99 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 25W · Line 99
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Cannon Fire Direction Specialist (13E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 31, 1947
- Home of record
- Atmore, Alabama (Escambia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 13, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
112 names on the Wall carry the date May 13, 1969; 35 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Hamburger Hill was under way. On Đồng Ấp Bia (Hill 937) in the A Shau Valley (10–20 May 1969), the 101st Airborne Division attacked entrenched North Vietnamese troops for ten days; the soldiers called it “Hamburger Hill.” The heavy losses fed the debate at home over the war’s tactics. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 25W, Line 99
- THOMAS EUGENE FOSTERSergeant · May 13, 1969
- MOULTON LAMAR FREEMANCaptain · May 13, 1969
- MARION LORA GARDNERPrivate First Class · May 13, 1969
- FELIX G GONZALES JRSpecialist Four · May 13, 1969
Same unit, same day
- CARL FRANCIS ARBOGAST JRSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 93
- OSCAR DAN BOYDSTONSergeant · Panel 25W, Line 95
- JERRY TYRUS LEEFirst Lieutenant · Panel 25W, Line 95
- GALEN CHARLES BROWNSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 96
- EDWARD ALLEN CLARKECorporal · Panel 25W, Line 96
- DONALD JUNE CORBETTSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 96
- KENNETH T CRUISE JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 25W, Line 97
- ODELL DANIEL BEASLEYPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 98
- MOULTON LAMAR FREEMANCaptain · Panel 25W, Line 99
- ERNEST LEE GORDONCorporal · Panel 25W, Line 100
- JAMES CECIL HARPER JRSergeant · Panel 25W, Line 101
- WILLIAM LYLE HAYDENPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 101
- CLEABERN WILLIAM HILL JRPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 101
- ERIC BERNARD JOHNSONSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 102
- RICHARD ROBERT KELLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 102
- BOBBY GENE LAWRENCESergeant · Panel 25W, Line 103
- ROBERT RICHARD MALECKICorporal · Panel 25W, Line 104
- JAMES ANTHONY MARGROSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 105
- ARLEN JAY MILLERSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 106
- WARREN PAUL NIXPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 108
- GEORGE WILLIAM PICKELPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 109
- WILLIAM DAVID POOLE JRPrivate First Class · Panel 25W, Line 109
- ROGER DALE ROSSSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 110
- THOMAS WAYNE SADLERCorporal · Panel 25W, Line 110
From Atmore
- JACK ELLIOTT CLEMMONSSpecialist Five · December 18, 1965
- ELMER JACK TAYLORSergeant · March 30, 1966
- JAMES MATHEW KELLYSpecialist Four · November 8, 1966
- LARRY EUGENE GONZALEZPrivate First Class · December 21, 1967
- ALLEN TWIGGS MERRITT IVPrivate First Class · February 2, 1968
- RICHARD BENJAMINCorporal · February 6, 1968
- LARRY BENJAMIN THOMASSpecialist Four · January 15, 1969
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.