The Wall › Panel 38E › Pennsylvania › John James McElroy
JOHN JAMES MCELROY
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
August 30, 1948 – February 10, 1968
Service recordJohn James McElroy, of Karns City, Pennsylvania, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 10, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 70 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 70
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Combat Engineer (1371)
- Born
- August 30, 1948
- Home of record
- Karns City, Pennsylvania (Butler County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 10, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
54 names on the Wall carry the date February 10, 1968; seven 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 38E, Line 70
- BOBBY DANIEL MATHENYStaff Sergeant · February 10, 1968
- STEPHEN DARRELL MAZZASpecialist Four · February 10, 1968
- WILLIE B MCNEILLSpecialist Four · February 10, 1968
- HOWARD LEROY PAINTERPrivate First Class · February 10, 1968
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.