The Wall › Panel 37E › Pennsylvania › John Patrick Onderko
JOHN PATRICK ONDERKO
Captain · U.S. Army
March 17, 1943 – February 4, 1968
Service recordJohn Patrick Onderko, of Monessen, Pennsylvania, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on February 4, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 26 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 26
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
- Captain (CPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 SIGNAL BDE
- Born
- March 17, 1943
- Home of record
- Monessen, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 4, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
68 names on the Wall carry the date February 4, 1968; 28 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 SIGNAL BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 37E, Line 26
- JOHN DONALD KENNE MACLEANSergeant · February 4, 1968
- LONNIE EARL MCNEILLPrivate · February 4, 1968
- CURTIS RAY PATTONStaff Sergeant · February 4, 1968
- OTIS LAMONT PHILLIPSCorporal · February 4, 1968
From Monessen
- ROBERT ALLAN LHOTASpecialist Four · September 21, 1968
- GEORGE AUREL MILIKASpecialist Four · October 26, 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.