The Wall › Panel 40E › California › John Jerome Kopfer
JOHN JEROME KOPFER
Airman First Class · U.S. Air Force
October 8, 1947 – February 21, 1968
Service recordJohn Jerome Kopfer, of Redwood City, California, served as an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force. He died on February 21, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 54 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 54
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. Air Force
- Rank
- Airman First Class (A1C)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- October 8, 1947
- Home of record
- Redwood City, California (San Mateo County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 21, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
32 names on the Wall carry the date February 21, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 40E, Line 54
- WILLIAM THOMAS CONLEYSpecialist Four · February 21, 1968
- JOHN WADE KINNEYSpecialist Four · February 21, 1968
- FRANK RONALD MANELLOSpecialist Four · February 21, 1968
- WILBERT PETERSPrivate First Class · February 21, 1968
From Redwood City
- RALPH FORRESTER GALVINPrivate · July 29, 1965
- DAVID GEORGE CALLISLance Corporal · March 21, 1966
- JOHN NETO RODRIGUESStaff Sergeant · November 24, 1966
- PHILIP JEREMIAH SMITHPrivate First Class · February 3, 1967
- WALTER ADOLPH WAGNERLance Corporal · June 8, 1967
- MICHAEL GAIL HARVEYWarrant Officer 1 · June 23, 1967
- ALAN MACDONALD STURDYSergeant · July 2, 1967
- KENNETH WILLIAM CLAIRECorporal · February 25, 1968
- RONALD ERNEST INGRAMCorporal · July 6, 1968
- STEPHEN GRIFFITH MONTAGUECorporal · October 16, 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.