The Wall › Panel 41E › Illinois › John Spurlock
JOHN SPURLOCK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
October 28, 1948 – February 23, 1968
Service recordJohn Spurlock, of Pekin, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 23, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 4
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Light Wheel Vehicle Mechanic (63B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 FIELD FORCE
- Born
- October 28, 1948
- Home of record
- Pekin, Illinois (Tazewell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 23, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
56 names on the Wall carry the date February 23, 1968; 11 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 FIELD FORCE”, his unit in the record, lost 20 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 41E, Line 4
- JAMES RONALD OAKLEYPrivate First Class · February 23, 1968
- DANNY RALPH PIERCEPrivate · February 23, 1968
- CHARLES FREDERICK STROCKSergeant · February 23, 1968
- ALLAN FRANCIS SULLIVANChief Petty Officer · February 23, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DENNIS ERVIN MUSSMANPrivate First Class · Panel 40E, Line 77
From Pekin
- ALDO ROSSI JRPrivate First Class · January 26, 1966
- JERRY W BELLSergeant · May 18, 1966
- JOHN W CLAYTONCaptain · November 20, 1966
- EVERETT LEROY TABORSpecialist Five · January 3, 1967
- LARRY GENE ASBRIDGECorporal · August 12, 1967
- RAMON ARTHUR MEEKERLance Corporal · February 9, 1968
- BILLY EUGENE MYERSSergeant · May 7, 1968
- ALONZO LENORD DIXONPrivate First Class · May 22, 1968
- CALVIN FRANKLIN BUTTERFIELDPrivate First Class · May 31, 1968
- TERRY LEE BLOOMERCorporal · September 3, 1968
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.