The Wall › Panel 46W › California › Joseph Ernest Tafoya
JOSEPH ERNEST TAFOYA
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 27, 1947 – August 28, 1968
Service recordJoseph Ernest Tafoya, of Lathrop, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on August 28, 1968, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 46W, Line 53 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46W · Line 53
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
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- October 27, 1947
- Home of record
- Lathrop, California (San Joaquin County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 28, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date August 28, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bien Hoa Province that day. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 62 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 46W, Line 53
- JAMES ROBERT PIZZANOPrivate First Class · August 28, 1968
- VICTOR M PLOURDESpecialist Four · August 28, 1968
- CHARLES SOTOSergeant · August 28, 1968
- PAUL MARION STOCKWELLPrivate First Class · August 28, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ARLIN DARRELL COLLINSSergeant · Panel 46W, Line 47
- JIMMY LEO HARRISPrivate First Class · Panel 46W, Line 49
From Lathrop
- CHARLES MOTT WHITE SRPetty Officer Third Class · January 24, 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.