The Wall › Panel 40E › Texas › Joe Mikel Copeland
JOE MIKEL COPELAND
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
April 5, 1949 – February 20, 1968
Service recordJoe Mikel Copeland, of Conroe, Texas, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 20, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 38
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- April 5, 1949
- Home of record
- Conroe, Texas (Montgomery County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 20, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 20, 1968; eight of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 40E, Line 38
- RAY D CROPPERSpecialist Four · February 20, 1968
- THOMAS ANTHONY ECKLSpecialist Four · February 20, 1968
- ALEXANDER FEDOROFFStaff Sergeant · February 20, 1968
- KENNETH LLOYD FETTERSergeant · February 20, 1968
From Conroe
- JAMES ARNOLD GILFORDCorporal · August 24, 1965
- GEORGE WILLIAM RUSHINGSpecialist Four · February 20, 1968
- EDDIE LEE MILLERSergeant First Class · April 26, 1968
- J B SPEARMONSergeant · September 18, 1968
- JOHNNY MUNOZSergeant · August 28, 1969
- CLARKE KEMBLE VICKREYPrivate First Class · October 27, 1969
- FLOYD DEAN WEBBERPrivate First Class · March 15, 1970
- DONALD W LOWECaptain · February 3, 1972
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.