The Wall › Panel 36E › California › John Leonard Church
JOHN LEONARD CHURCH
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
October 6, 1938 – January 31, 1968
Service recordJohn Leonard Church, of Norwalk, California, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 29. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 2
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)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- October 6, 1938
- Home of record
- Norwalk, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 29
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 24 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 38 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. 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 36E, Line 2
- HAROLD EDWARD CASHMAN JRSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- ROBERT GLEN CHENAULTPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- LARRY RAYMOND CLEMONSLance Corporal · January 31, 1968
- ALFRED JOHN LEWISPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RANDOLPH ERNELL BOONESpecialist Four · Panel 35E, Line 87
- ROLAND MICHAEL BOWENPrivate First Class · Panel 35E, Line 87
- WILLIAM LEON BUSBYFirst Lieutenant · Panel 35E, Line 89
- EUGENE JOSEPH CONNERMajor · Panel 36E, Line 3
- CHARLES LINCOLN DANIELSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 5
- FRANK DOEZEMA JRSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 6
- CHARLES EDWARD HALLSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 12
- HENRY GRANT HOWCOTTMajor · Panel 36E, Line 16
- FLOYD BROWN SPENCER JRMajor · Panel 36E, Line 23
- JOHN J MCHUGHFirst Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 27
- MARVIN JAMES PLATAMaster Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 30
- DONALD M RADICSSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 31
- RONNIE RAY ROUSHSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 33
- TERENCE FAIRCHILD SAGECaptain · Panel 36E, Line 34
- JAMES J SHERRILLSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 35
- LEON JERRY SHRUMSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 35
- MAXIMILIAN HEINRI SIMMETHMajor · Panel 36E, Line 36
- JOHN DOUGLAS WARD JRPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 41
- ROBERT JOE WILLIAMSONSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 43
- JOSEPH ROBERT WISEMajor · Panel 36E, Line 43
- TIMOTHY LANE WORTHFirst Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 44
From Norwalk
- JOE MANUEL SALINASPrivate First Class · July 20, 1965
- JUAN JOSE CASTROSergeant · March 23, 1966
- FRANK ARREY JRSergeant · September 21, 1966
- RAYMOND JEFFERSON ROSS JRPrivate First Class · October 17, 1966
- MICHAEL CLIFTON MILLERPrivate First Class · October 25, 1966
- ELBERT FRANK BLACKBURNPrivate First Class · March 16, 1967
- FELIX F F LEYVA-PARRA-FRIASPrivate First Class · April 8, 1967
- RICHARD BERNARD VAGNONEPrivate First Class · May 4, 1967
- IGNACIO PORTUGAL JRPrivate First Class · June 19, 1967
- JERRY PAIZSpecialist Four · December 7, 1967
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.