The Wall › Panel 39E › New Mexico › Jesse Mechem
JESSE MECHEM
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
November 23, 1944 – February 12, 1968
Service recordJesse Mechem, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 12, 1968, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 9
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- November 23, 1944
- Home of record
- Las Cruces, New Mexico (Dona Ana County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 12, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Dinh Tuong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
73 names on the Wall carry the date February 12, 1968; three of them were lost in Định Tường Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 164 of its members that month.
He died in Định Tường Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 39E, Line 9
- CALVIN RONALD MACKAYSpecialist Four · February 12, 1968
- ARNOLD EDWARD MELISHSpecialist Four · February 12, 1968
- JOHN DEE MENDOZASpecialist Four · February 12, 1968
- DENNIS DALE NAGELKIRKPrivate First Class · February 12, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DERYL RAMON KIRKWOODCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 7
From Las Cruces
- JOHN MILTON RISNERPrivate First Class · June 26, 1966
- JOE MAC KEMPCorporal · July 24, 1966
- ROBERT F CHAMBERLAINWarrant Officer 1 · October 7, 1966
- JUAN MANUEL ALBA ZAMORACorporal · July 18, 1967
- JOHN RAMAGE BARBOURPetty Officer Third Class · September 4, 1967
- DAVID REAY MALINSPrivate First Class · October 5, 1967
- WALTER CLIFFORD BUNYEA JRPrivate First Class · November 7, 1967
- ANDY ANASTACIO CABRERACorporal · January 3, 1968
- CHARLE CORDOVA FLORESSpecialist Five · May 9, 1968
- SHARBER MAYFIELD ROWESergeant · July 7, 1968
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.