The Wall › Panel 46E › Indiana › John Ellsworth Hefty
JOHN ELLSWORTH HEFTY
Sergeant · U.S. Army
October 26, 1946 – March 25, 1968
Service recordJohn Ellsworth Hefty, of Waterloo, Indiana, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 25, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 46E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46E · Line 17
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 (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 26, 1946
- Home of record
- Waterloo, Indiana (Fayette County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 25, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
64 names on the Wall carry the date March 25, 1968; 15 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 46E, Line 17
- TRACY WALLACE HARGRAVEPrivate First Class · March 25, 1968
- JOHN DAVID HARPER JRPrivate First Class · March 25, 1968
- RICHARD EDWARD HEILSpecialist Four · March 25, 1968
- BENNETT JAMES HERRICKSpecialist Four · March 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- MCARTHUR CALLAWAYCorporal · Panel 46E, Line 14
- BENNETT JAMES HERRICKSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 17
- WILLIAM JOSE SHORTSLEEVESSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 18
- GARY RAY WIGINTONPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 26
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.