The Wall › Panel 54E › Michigan › John Melvin Durham
JOHN MELVIN DURHAM
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
October 20, 1947 – May 4, 1968
Service recordJohn Melvin Durham, of Grand Ledge, Michigan, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 4, 1968, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 54E, Line 32 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 54E · Line 32
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- October 20, 1947
- Home of record
- Grand Ledge, Michigan (Eaton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 4, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date May 4, 1968; five of them were lost in Bình Định Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 70 of its members that month.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 54E, Line 32
- DARRELL WAYNE COTTRELLLance Corporal · May 4, 1968
- KENNETH MICHAEL CRYANSpecialist Five · May 4, 1968
- ROBERT WOODROW DAMERONPrivate First Class · May 4, 1968
- LARRY DEAN DANIELSSpecialist Four · May 4, 1968
- JOHN EARNEST SWANSON JRCorporal · May 4, 1968
Same unit, same day
- SUTTON MOBLEY JRSpecialist Four · Panel 54E, Line 38
- JOHN WILLIAM MORANCorporal · Panel 54E, Line 38
From Grand Ledge
- GARY LYN CLAPPPrivate First Class · August 26, 1968
- LARRY DUANE LEITCHChief Warrant Officer 2 · March 1, 1970
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.