The Wall › Panel 17W › New Jersey › Joseph Vincent Whelan
JOSEPH VINCENT WHELAN
Captain · U.S. Army
February 1, 1942 – October 25, 1969
Service recordJoseph Vincent Whelan, of Garwood, New Jersey, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on October 25, 1969, in Laos, at age 27. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 115 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 115
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
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- February 1, 1942
- Home of record
- Garwood, New Jersey (Union County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 25, 1969
- Age
- 27
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
17 names on the Wall carry the date October 25, 1969. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 17W, Line 115
- THOMAS DAVID TOMASZEWSKICorporal · October 24, 1969
- JERRY LEON WAGESSpecialist Four · October 24, 1969
- ALBERT ORLANDO WAYMAN JRPrivate First Class · October 24, 1969
- MELVIN MASAICHI YAMASHITASergeant · October 24, 1969
Same unit, same day
- RONALD HENRY BOZIKISStaff Sergeant · Panel 17W, Line 116
- CHARLES EDGAR SHULTZStaff Sergeant · Panel 17W, Line 118
From Garwood
- THOMAS EDWARD BADAVASPrivate First Class · February 21, 1967
- KEVIN CORCORANPrivate First Class · May 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.