The Wall › Panel 36E › West Virginia › Joe Harold Pringle
JOE HAROLD PRINGLE
Sergeant Major · U.S. Army
June 28, 1929 – February 2, 1968
Service recordJoe Harold Pringle, of Horner, West Virginia, served as a Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army. He was lost on February 2, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 82 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 82
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
- Sergeant Major (SGM)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- June 28, 1929
- Home of record
- Horner, West Virginia (Lewis County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- February 2, 1968
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Presumed Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
130 names on the Wall carry the date February 2, 1968; 38 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 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 168 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.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 36E, Line 82
- ROY LEE PHILLIPSCorporal · February 2, 1968
- GARY STUART POSCOVERCorporal · February 2, 1968
- WILMER POTTSCorporal · February 2, 1968
- HUBERT PRICE JRSpecialist Four · February 2, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES LEROY ADKINSSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 64
- DONALD WILLIAM ALLEN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 64
- DONALD DAWSON BURNHAMLieutenant Colonel · Panel 36E, Line 67
- LARRY MONROE CLARKSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 68
- PAUL RAYMOND COLLETT JRCorporal · Panel 36E, Line 68
- JOHN MYRON DASHNAWPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 69
- RICHARD EUGENE ENGLEPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 70
- RUSSELL RAY FLESHERSecond Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 70
- HORACE GILBERT GIDDENS JRWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 36E, Line 71
- JOHN FREDERICK KUIPERPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 76
- KENNETH JAMES PATTONStaff Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 81
- JOSEPH DAVID PUGGISergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 83
- ROGER LLOYD SCHNEIDERWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 36E, Line 85
From Horner
- LOYD EUGENE ROBINSONSpecialist Four · June 11, 1971
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.