The Wall › Panel 37E › Michigan › Kenneth William Coates
KENNETH WILLIAM COATES
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 5, 1947 – February 5, 1968
Service recordKenneth William Coates, of West Branch, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 5, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 33
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)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- December 5, 1947
- Home of record
- West Branch, Michigan (Ogemaw County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 5, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
83 names on the Wall carry the date February 5, 1968; six of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 232 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 37E, Line 33
- GARY LYNN CAMPENPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
- RAUL CANDELARIAPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
- LARRY VERNAL CLASPILLSpecialist Four · February 5, 1968
- JERRY DOUGLAS MALLORYPrivate First Class · February 5, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LARRY WAYNE NORGAARDPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 1
- JACK ALLEN BEARDSergeant · Panel 37E, Line 31
- M L CURRYPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 34
- JAMES RICHARD HOLTCorporal · Panel 37E, Line 36
- WESLEY GEORGE THURSTONPrivate First Class · Panel 37E, Line 46
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.