The Wall › Panel 39E › California › Jeffrey Raymond Wentzell
JEFFREY RAYMOND WENTZELL
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
October 17, 1948 – February 14, 1968
Service recordJeffrey Raymond Wentzell, of San Francisco, California, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 14, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 41 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 41
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Unit (as recorded)
- K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV
- Born
- October 17, 1948
- Home of record
- San Francisco, California (San Francisco County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV”, his unit in the record, lost 7 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. 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 39E, Line 41
- JOHN FRANKLIN TYRRELLPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- VITALIO VELA JRSergeant · February 14, 1968
- ERNEST MURRAL WEATHERSBEEPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- JOSEPH ROBERT WEAVER JRPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LOWELL THOMAS COMBSCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 30
- DENNIS K FLEMINGCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 32
- MELVIN LEWIS JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 34
- WILLIAM ROBERT REESESecond Lieutenant · Panel 39E, Line 38
- BARRY LANE RIGSBYPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 38
- DAVID FRANCIS SCHNEIDERCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 39
From San Francisco
- BRUCE CHARLES FARRELLLieutenant · October 8, 1963
- JOHN F SANTOS JRCaptain · April 28, 1964
- HARRY PAUL GAMBLEPrivate First Class · June 7, 1965
- LUDWIG PETER KOHLERPrivate First Class · July 26, 1965
- WILLIAM GEORGE WHEATLEYPrivate First Class · October 13, 1965
- EVERETT WILLIAM GOIASSpecialist Four · November 8, 1965
- JOHN ARTHUR NATHANSpecialist Four · November 8, 1965
- RONALD DENNIS FERGUSONSpecialist Four · November 15, 1965
- JOSE WILFREDO SUAREZSpecialist Five · November 20, 1965
- LAAVALE FUATAU TAGATALance Corporal · December 3, 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.
