The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966.
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966. Photo: SP5 Charles V. Hoover, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of John W Sparks.

The Wall › Panel 14W › Washington › John W Sparks

JOHN W SPARKS

Private First Class · U.S. Army

September 24, 1949 – January 9, 1970

Service record

John W Sparks, of Kettle Falls, Washington, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 9, 1970, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 14W, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 14W · Line 21

Position of Panel 14W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Private First Class (PFC)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
Unit (as recorded)
11 ARMORED CAV
Born
September 24, 1949
Home of record
Kettle Falls, Washington (Stevens County)

Casualty

Date of death
January 9, 1970
Age
20
Province
Binh Long
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Vehicle Crash (MC)

Context · from the records

What was happening

30 names on the Wall carry the date January 9, 1970; he was the only one lost in Binh Long Province that day. In January 1970, 529 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “11 ARMORED CAV”, his unit in the record, lost 8 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 14W, Line 21

From Kettle Falls

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.