The Wall › Panel 47E › Iowa › John Francis Link
JOHN FRANCIS LINK
Sergeant · U.S. Army
November 26, 1944 – March 30, 1968
Service recordJohn Francis Link, of Ottumwa, Iowa, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 30, 1968, in Khanh Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 13
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
- Combat Engineer (12B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- November 26, 1944
- Home of record
- Ottumwa, Iowa (Wapello County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 30, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Khanh Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date March 30, 1968; he was the only one lost in Khanh Hoa Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.
He died in Khanh Hoa 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 47E, Line 13
- ROBERT FRANCIS KLINE JRCorporal · March 30, 1968
- LAWRENCE RYLAND KOMANSecond Lieutenant · March 30, 1968
- LARRY GEORGE MANUELPrivate First Class · March 30, 1968
- JOHN GRADY MARSHALLSpecialist Four · March 30, 1968
From Ottumwa
- KENNETH A MALLONEESpecialist Five · October 3, 1966
- DAVID LEROY PARISHSpecialist Four · March 15, 1967
- TERRY ROBERTSPrivate First Class · December 20, 1967
- PAUL DAVID EKARTPetty Officer Third Class · January 26, 1968
- LARRY DEAN BLEYTHINGSpecialist Four · April 18, 1969
- TERRY VERNON MILLERCorporal · May 29, 1969
- MICHAEL HUGH BEAVERSpecialist Four · December 29, 1969
- RUSSELL CRAIG SCULLYPrivate First Class · September 1, 1970
- DUANE ALLAN COTTRELLSpecialist Four · September 23, 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.