The Wall › Panel 47E › Kentucky › McKenley Odis Matlock
MCKENLEY ODIS MATLOCK
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
September 18, 1942 – March 30, 1968
Service recordMcKenley Odis Matlock, of Barbourville, Kentucky, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 30, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 8 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 8
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Crewman (11E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- September 18, 1942
- Home of record
- Barbourville, Kentucky (Knox County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 30, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date March 30, 1968; four of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 104 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 47E, Line 8
- JERRY DOYLE ATKINSONCorporal · March 30, 1968
- LUZON BEASLEYCorporal · March 30, 1968
- NORMAN LEE BLASINGAMEPrivate First Class · March 30, 1968
- WALTER LEE BRANNONSpecialist Five · March 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES DAVID GOFORTHSpecialist Five · Panel 47E, Line 11
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.