The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966.
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966. Photo: SP5 Charles V. Hoover, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of John Howard Suydam III.

The Wall › Panel 39E › California › John Howard Suydam III

JOHN HOWARD SUYDAM III

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

October 23, 1947 – February 12, 1968

Service record

John Howard Suydam III, of Merced, California, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 12, 1968, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 39E · Line 14

Position of Panel 39E 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
Specialist Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
Unit (as recorded)
1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born
October 23, 1947
Home of record
Merced, California (Merced County)

Casualty

Date of death
February 12, 1968
Age
20
Province
Binh Dinh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

73 names on the Wall carry the date February 12, 1968; five of them were lost in Bình Định 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.

Also on Panel 39E, Line 14

Same unit, same day

From Merced

All 19 names from Merced →

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.