The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A mother and child are evacuated from Kon Tum to Pleiku during the Easter Offensive, 4 May 1972.
A mother and child are evacuated from Kon Tum to Pleiku during the Easter Offensive, 4 May 1972. Photo: 1LT Stacy Stewart, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Joseph Richard Harris.

The Wall › Panel 2W › Florida › Joseph Richard Harris

JOSEPH RICHARD HARRIS

Captain · U.S. Army

October 24, 1947 – April 8, 1972

Service record

Joseph Richard Harris, of Tallahassee, Florida, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on April 8, 1972, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 133 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 2W · Line 133

Position of Panel 2W 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
Captain (CPT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Air Observation Pilot (1981)
Unit (as recorded)
1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born
October 24, 1947
Home of record
Tallahassee, Florida (Leon County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 8, 1972
Age
24
Province
Tay Ninh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

Four names on the Wall carry the date April 8, 1972; three of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In April 1972, 106 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 9 of its members that month.

He died in Tây Ninh Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.

Also on Panel 2W, Line 133

From Tallahassee

All 26 names from Tallahassee →

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.