The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Jesus Martinez.

The Wall › Panel 51E › Texas › Jesus Martinez

JESUS MARTINEZ

Private First Class · U.S. Army

February 9, 1945 – April 20, 1968

Service record

Jesus Martinez, of Mission, Texas, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 20, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 51E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 51E · Line 9

Position of Panel 51E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Private First Class (PFC)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
February 9, 1945
Home of record
Mission, Texas (Hidalgo County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 20, 1968
Age
23
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

52 names on the Wall carry the date April 20, 1968; 27 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 189 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 51E, Line 9

Same unit, same day

From Mission

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.