The Wall › Panel 36E › Maryland › John Leif Nielson
JOHN LEIF NIELSON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 28, 1941 – January 31, 1968
Service recordJohn Leif Nielson, of Takoma Park, Maryland, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 28 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 28
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Motion Picture Specialist (84C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 SIGNAL BDE
- Born
- December 28, 1941
- Home of record
- Takoma Park, Maryland (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 26
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 66 of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 SIGNAL BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
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 36E, Line 28
- JEFFERY CLARK MCTEERPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- CHRISTIAN HERMAN MORRISONPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- LARRY FRANKLIN NEWCOMBSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- VERNON LEE NEWTONStaff Sergeant · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM CHARLES BEHRENSSergeant · Panel 35E, Line 86
- LASZLO BOROSS JRSergeant · Panel 35E, Line 87
- RICHARD JOSEPH LACEYSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 20
From Takoma Park
- NEIL KIRK MACIVERPrivate First Class · May 29, 1963
- ROBERT EMERSON TAYLORSecond Lieutenant · March 14, 1966
- RICHARD EUGENE SWABCorporal · June 29, 1968
- LESLIE MILTON DYSON JRPrivate · August 27, 1968
- ALBERT OTTO KRAUSSERSpecialist Four · March 21, 1969
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.