The Wall › Panel 37E › Pennsylvania › Joseph Anthony Molettiere
JOSEPH ANTHONY MOLETTIERE
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
March 24, 1949 – February 5, 1968
Service recordJoseph Anthony Molettiere, of North Wales, Pennsylvania, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 5, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 40 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 40
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)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 2 BN 26 MAR 3 MARDIV
- Born
- March 24, 1949
- Home of record
- North Wales, Pennsylvania (Montgomery County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 5, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
83 names on the Wall carry the date February 5, 1968; 26 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 37E, Line 40
- DOC HENRY MARSHALLSergeant · February 5, 1968
- RONALD LEROY MEANSSpecialist Four · February 5, 1968
- BRUCE WILLIAM MONSKAPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
- JEFFREY PAUL MORLEYWarrant Officer 1 · February 5, 1968
From North Wales
- LOUIS ROBERT LORDISpecialist Four · May 17, 1968
- DAVID RALPH WEIGNERCaptain · July 27, 1970
- HENRY HOOKER STRONG JRCaptain · May 25, 1972
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.