The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter.
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter. Photo: SP4 James B. Egan, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Melvin Bowman.

The Wall › Panel 11W › South Carolina › Melvin Bowman

MELVIN BOWMAN

Sergeant · U.S. Army

July 1, 1949 – May 6, 1970

Service record

Melvin Bowman, of Iva, South Carolina, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 6, 1970, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 11W, Line 109 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 11W · Line 109

Position of Panel 11W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Medical Specialist (91B)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
July 1, 1949
Home of record
Iva, South Carolina (Anderson County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 6, 1970
Age
20
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Artillery/Mortar/Rocket

Context · from the records

What was happening

59 names on the Wall carry the date May 6, 1970; 12 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1970, 917 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 170 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 11W, Line 109

Same unit, same day

From Iva

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.