The Wall › Panel 43E › California › Martin Jesus Soto
MARTIN JESUS SOTO
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
September 29, 1947 – March 7, 1968
Service recordMartin Jesus Soto, of Compton, California, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 7, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 48
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Assaultman (0351)
- Born
- September 29, 1947
- Home of record
- Compton, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 7, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
55 names on the Wall carry the date March 7, 1968; 24 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 43E, Line 48
- JAMES GARY RANDALLPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- EDWIN MICHAEL RIDENOURPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- JEFFREY EARL SMITHPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- GEORGE EDWARD SWEATTPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
From Compton
- BARRY JAMES SITLERLance Corporal · December 10, 1965
- JOSEPH RAY REYNOLDSLance Corporal · March 4, 1966
- IGNACIO HUICOCHEA-REYNASpecialist Four · March 15, 1966
- ALEXANDER D RODARTEPrivate First Class · March 19, 1966
- PHILLIPS LAMARRSpecialist Four · April 13, 1966
- MELVIN BARBERSergeant · August 19, 1966
- ALEXANDER VERA HERNANDEZPrivate First Class · September 7, 1966
- ROBERT EMMETT MURPHY JRPrivate First Class · December 21, 1966
- JAMES ANDERSON JRPrivate First Class · February 28, 1967
- RICHARD CHARLES GUPTONSpecialist Four · May 6, 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.