The Wall › Panel 53W › Missouri › Joseph Merle Houtz
JOSEPH MERLE HOUTZ
Corporal · U.S. Army
January 30, 1948 – July 3, 1968
Service recordJoseph Merle Houtz, of Springfield, Missouri, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on July 3, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 53W, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 53W · Line 1
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- January 30, 1948
- Home of record
- Springfield, Missouri (Greene County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 3, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
48 names on the Wall carry the date July 3, 1968; six of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In July 1968, 993 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 53W, Line 1
- BILLY RAY HOLMESSergeant · July 3, 1968
- GARY DENNIS HOLTONSpecialist Four · July 3, 1968
- WILLIAM D JOHNSON JRCorporal · July 3, 1968
- FREDERICK FRENCH VANDEUSENLieutenant Colonel · July 3, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOHN DAVIES COX JRPrivate First Class · Panel 54W, Line 41
From Springfield
- SHEPHEN HIETT PHILLIPSSergeant · July 18, 1965
- WILBERT CLAUDE DAVISSergeant · October 12, 1965
- DAVID MARSHALL KNIGHTSpecialist Four · March 30, 1966
- CHARLES EDWARD PHILLIPSPrivate First Class · November 19, 1966
- DOUGLAS BLAKE HAMILTONPrivate First Class · April 24, 1967
- JACK EUGENE GOSS IIPrivate First Class · June 3, 1967
- RANDALL KERWIN RUSSELLSergeant · July 6, 1967
- ROBERT DEAN CRAWFORDPrivate First Class · October 24, 1967
- JAMES DOYLE STOKESPrivate · November 30, 1967
- CHARLES KIRBY WILCOXCaptain · January 9, 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.