The Wall › Panel 4W › Ohio › John Steven Gentkowski
JOHN STEVEN GENTKOWSKI
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 13, 1950 – April 19, 1971
Service recordJohn Steven Gentkowski, of Elyria, Ohio, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on April 19, 1971, in Darlac Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 134 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 134
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 5 INF DIV MECH
- Born
- November 13, 1950
- Home of record
- Elyria, Ohio (Lorain County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 19, 1971
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Darlac
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
Seven names on the Wall carry the date April 19, 1971; he was the only one lost in Darlac Province that day. In April 1971, 292 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 4W, Line 134
- PAUL ORBEN APPLEGATESergeant First Class · April 19, 1971
- LAWRENCE ERWIN CRAWLEYPrivate First Class · April 19, 1971
- KENNETH MARVIN HATCHERPetty Officer Third Class · April 19, 1971
- BRUCE DENNIS OLSONLance Corporal · April 19, 1971
From Elyria
- JAMES DAVID SMITHPrivate First Class · September 22, 1966
- JAMES CALVIN WHITMOREPrivate First Class · November 9, 1967
- MICHAEL DRENNEN MILBURNLance Corporal · February 6, 1968
- TROY TONY THREETPrivate First Class · February 10, 1968
- GEORGE WESLEY DEJARNETTSpecialist Four · February 29, 1968
- DONNIE STANLEY KEGGPrivate First Class · May 1, 1968
- NORMAN JONES JRPrivate First Class · June 18, 1968
- JOHN LESTER BEGANPrivate First Class · August 16, 1968
- WILLIAM EARL FOSTER JRSpecialist Four · September 12, 1968
- CALVIN KERMIT COONLance Corporal · September 18, 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.