The Wall › Panel 30E › Kansas › John L Ponting
JOHN L PONTING
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
January 17, 1936 – November 22, 1967
Service recordJohn L Ponting, of Emporia, Kansas, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 22, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 30E, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30E · Line 65
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 First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- January 17, 1936
- Home of record
- Emporia, Kansas (Lyon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 22, 1967
- Age
- 31
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
35 names on the Wall carry the date November 22, 1967; seven of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 212 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 30E, Line 65
- DAVID BRYAN OTSENSergeant · November 22, 1967
- KENNETH GRANT OWENSPrivate First Class · November 22, 1967
- TUNIS E RAPPLEYEA JRSergeant · November 22, 1967
- VALDEZ SHARPPrivate First Class · November 22, 1967
Same unit, same day
- BILLY RAY CUBITPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 62
- KENNETH GRANT OWENSPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 65
- VALDEZ SHARPPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 65
- CHARLES EDWARDS WILLBANKSPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 68
From Emporia
- MARVIN DOUGLAS BUCKRIDGESpecialist Four · August 18, 1967
- LEWIS R G DORSEYPrivate First Class · March 12, 1968
- MICHAEL NEIL HUBERTStaff Sergeant · February 24, 1969
- TIMOTHY LYNN CARLEYSpecialist Four · March 26, 1969
- STEVEN VINCENT ASTCorporal · March 2, 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.