The Wall › Panel 43E › Alabama › Melton Howard Presley
MELTON HOWARD PRESLEY
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
March 24, 1949 – March 9, 1968
Service recordMelton Howard Presley, of Childersburg, Alabama, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 9, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 68 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 68
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- March 24, 1949
- Home of record
- Childersburg, Alabama (Talladega County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 9, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date March 9, 1968; nine of them were lost in Thừa Thiên 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 Thừa Thiên 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 43E, Line 68
- MELVIN RANDOLPH LEAVELLPrivate First Class · March 9, 1968
- PATRICK DALE MORIARTYChief Petty Officer · March 9, 1968
- JOSEPH ESPINO PEREZPrivate First Class · March 9, 1968
- LEON MILTON PHILLIPSSergeant · March 9, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES RONALD BATEMANPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 65
- WILLIE B BRADFORDSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 65
- MAURICE ALAN COOPERPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 66
- MELVIN RANDOLPH LEAVELLPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 68
- JOSEPH ESPINO PEREZPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 68
- JAMES RIVERAPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 69
- HENRY EARL THOMASSpecialist Four · Panel 44E, Line 2
- LAWRENCE WALKER SCANLANPrivate First Class · Panel 44E, Line 3
- EDWARD MARVIN STERNINSpecialist Four · Panel 44E, Line 3
From Childersburg
- JACK MARION JONESSergeant First Class · March 29, 1968
- BARRY COLEY TOMLINCaptain · May 10, 1972
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.