The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of John Leslie Downing.

The Wall › Panel 55E › Arizona › John Leslie Downing

JOHN LESLIE DOWNING

Private First Class · U.S. Army

January 3, 1949 – May 5, 1968

Service record

John Leslie Downing, of Phoenix, Arizona, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on May 5, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 55E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 55E · Line 9

Position of Panel 55E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Unit (as recorded)
1 SIGNAL BDE
Born
January 3, 1949
Home of record
Phoenix, Arizona (Maricopa County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 5, 1968
Age
19
Province
Kontum
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Grenade

Context · from the records

What was happening

189 names on the Wall carry the date May 5, 1968; nine of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “1 SIGNAL BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 55E, Line 9

Same unit, same day

From Phoenix

All 207 names from Phoenix →

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.