The Wall › Panel 2E › Indiana › Jon David Vannatta
JON DAVID VANNATTA
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
June 16, 1945 – August 18, 1965
Service recordJon David Vannatta, of Richmond, Indiana, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on August 18, 1965, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2E · Line 59
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- June 16, 1945
- Home of record
- Richmond, Indiana (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 18, 1965
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
48 names on the Wall carry the date August 18, 1965; 45 of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In August 1965, 179 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Tín Province while Operation Starlite was under way. Operation Starlite (18–24 August 1965), on the Van Tuong peninsula south of Chu Lai, was the first regimental-size U.S. ground battle of the war. Marines attacked the 1st Viet Cong Regiment by helicopter, amphibious landing and on foot. 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 2E, Line 59
- ROBERT ORRIE LONGPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- MERLIN EUGENE MARQUARDTLance Corporal · August 18, 1965
- WILLIAM WALTER NICKERSONCorporal · August 18, 1965
- DONALD GORDON RADCLIFFMajor · August 18, 1965
From Richmond
- CURTIS LAMARR FOSTERPrivate First Class · June 6, 1965
- KARL EDWIN KLUTECaptain · March 14, 1966
- JESSE FLOYD WAGESSpecialist Four · May 17, 1966
- BURNIE HARRISStaff Sergeant · May 18, 1966
- TERRY LEE WILESPrivate First Class · June 10, 1966
- THOMAS PAUL DEITEMEYERSpecialist Four · February 12, 1967
- DAVID ALLEN DOWNINGSergeant · March 11, 1967
- THOMAS CLAYTON BENGESergeant First Class · June 25, 1967
- TERRI LEIGH HINESPrivate First Class · July 2, 1967
- EDDIE JAMES ALLENSergeant First Class · August 22, 1967
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.