The Wall › Panel 43W › North Carolina › James Russell Coates
JAMES RUSSELL COATES
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 14, 1948 – September 17, 1968
Service recordJames Russell Coates, of Dudley, North Carolina, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on September 17, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43W, Line 12 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43W · Line 12
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 Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- January 14, 1948
- Home of record
- Dudley, North Carolina (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 17, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
64 names on the Wall carry the date September 17, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In September 1968, 1,184 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 43W, Line 12
- NEAL GEORGE BOLLINGERSpecialist Four · September 17, 1968
- SAMUEL EDWARD BRYANTPrivate First Class · September 17, 1968
- ROBERT ALLEN BURKESergeant · September 17, 1968
- RICHARD ALAN CHAMBERSPrivate First Class · September 17, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GARY HILLStaff Sergeant · Panel 43W, Line 18
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.