The Wall › Panel 47E › Kentucky › John Phillip Matlock
JOHN PHILLIP MATLOCK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 7, 1944 – March 31, 1968
Service recordJohn Phillip Matlock, of Louisville, Kentucky, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 31, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 23
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Crewman (11E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- December 7, 1944
- Home of record
- Louisville, Kentucky (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 47 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 47E, Line 23
- GRAT ALBERT KEENECorporal · March 31, 1968
- THOMAS JAMES KOVACEVICHPrivate First Class · March 31, 1968
- RICHARD FREDERICK LINKSPrivate First Class · March 31, 1968
- ALLAN LEON MAIRPetty Officer Third Class · March 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES BARRETT BROCKPrivate First Class · Panel 47E, Line 19
From Louisville
- FERGUS COLEMAN GROVES IICaptain · February 2, 1962
- ROBERT SHERMAN MOSIERSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- DON IRA WILLIAMSONColonel · October 24, 1964
- DONALD GORDON RADCLIFFMajor · August 18, 1965
- LEE ROY JAMESGunnery Sergeant · September 5, 1965
- JERRY DWAYNE UNDERWOODPrivate First Class · September 18, 1965
- GARY LOUIS DOWELLCorporal · October 27, 1965
- THOMAS EDWARD THAYER JRSergeant Major · November 8, 1965
- BOBBY LEE FAVORSSergeant · February 4, 1966
- KENNETH RUSHPrivate First Class · February 7, 1966
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.