The Wall › Panel 18W › Massachusetts › John Joseph Kalen
JOHN JOSEPH KALEN
Captain · U.S. Army
September 27, 1940 – September 16, 1969
Service recordJohn Joseph Kalen, of Milford, Massachusetts, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on September 16, 1969, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 28. His name is inscribed on Panel 18W, Line 95 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18W · Line 95
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
- Captain (CPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (Mechanized) (1560)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- September 27, 1940
- Home of record
- Milford, Massachusetts (Worcester County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 16, 1969
- Age
- 28
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date September 16, 1969; eight of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 28 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 18W, Line 95
- JACK HARRIS JRPrivate First Class · September 16, 1969
- HARRY FRANK LALONDE JRSpecialist Four · September 16, 1969
- WALTER BEDFORD LOWE JRStaff Sergeant · September 16, 1969
- CHARLIE HOWARD MITCHELLCorporal · September 16, 1969
Same unit, same day
- FREEMAN ABRAHAM CARRCaptain · Panel 18W, Line 93
- WALTER STANLEY OLINSKY JRWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 18W, Line 96
- ALFRED GEORGE SAPP SRColonel · Panel 18W, Line 98
- ROBERT EUGENE SCHMITZSergeant · Panel 18W, Line 98
- DONALD JOSEPH TRAMPSKIStaff Sergeant · Panel 18W, Line 98
From Milford
- ROBERT JOSEPH GRITTEMaster Sergeant · March 4, 1967
- EUGENE FRANCIS CORMIERPrivate · September 22, 1967
- WAYNE DOUGLAS HAMELPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
- DAVID MICHAEL STJOHNLance Corporal · August 18, 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.