The Wall › Panel 45E › Virginia › Kenneth Ray Wells
KENNETH RAY WELLS
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
June 19, 1949 – March 16, 1968
Service recordKenneth Ray Wells, of Portsmouth, Virginia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 16, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 6
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- June 19, 1949
- Home of record
- Portsmouth, Virginia (Portsmouth (City) County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 16, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date March 16, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 45E, Line 6
- DAVID LEROY SIMMONSSergeant · March 16, 1968
- HOWARD BRUCE SMITHPrivate First Class · March 16, 1968
- MICHEL T WHEELERCorporal · March 16, 1968
- BENJI YAMANESergeant · March 16, 1968
From Portsmouth
- NORMAN ELLIOTT JRSpecialist Four · February 20, 1965
- RICHARD DALE BRODAPrivate First Class · November 20, 1965
- JESSE THOMAS BAILEY JRSergeant · February 2, 1966
- THOMAS HENRY RHODESPrivate First Class · February 12, 1966
- DONALD CHANDLER PIPERPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
- MILTON LEE VAUGHANPrivate First Class · August 27, 1966
- WALTER WILLIAMS JRSergeant · September 25, 1966
- MELVIN LEON SHERRELLSpecialist Four · December 13, 1966
- FRANK EARLE HARDYLance Corporal · May 29, 1967
- FRED ALLAN KELLEYSpecialist Four · July 10, 1967
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.