The Wall › Panel 38E › Montana › Lester Wesley Johnson JR
LESTER WESLEY JOHNSON JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 5, 1949 – February 8, 1968
Service recordLester Wesley Johnson JR, of Libby, Montana, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 8, 1968, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 30 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 30
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 5, 1949
- Home of record
- Libby, Montana (Lincoln County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 8, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
114 names on the Wall carry the date February 8, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bien Hoa Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Bien Hoa 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 38E, Line 30
- JOHNNIE BRUCE JACKSONLance Corporal · February 8, 1968
- LEONARD JACKSON JRPrivate First Class · February 8, 1968
- JOHN LEROY JERVIS IIISpecialist Four · February 8, 1968
- CHARLES EUGENE JOHNSONHospitalman · February 8, 1968
From Libby
- EDWARD NORMAN LETCHWORTHLieutenant (junior grade) · February 27, 1967
- ROBERT EDWARD WELCHSergeant · May 13, 1968
- STEVEN L BYINGTONSpecialist Four · July 13, 1968
- ARTHUR JOHN RAMBOStaff Sergeant · November 26, 1969
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.