The Wall › Panel 43E › Georgia › Melvin Randolph Leavell
MELVIN RANDOLPH LEAVELL
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 30, 1942 – March 9, 1968
Service recordMelvin Randolph Leavell, of Atlanta, Georgia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 9, 1968, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 26. 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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- January 30, 1942
- Home of record
- Atlanta, Georgia (Fulton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 9, 1968
- Age
- 26
- Province
- Binh Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date March 9, 1968; four of them were lost in Bình Định 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 Bình Định 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
- PATRICK DALE MORIARTYChief Petty Officer · March 9, 1968
- JOSEPH ESPINO PEREZPrivate First Class · March 9, 1968
- LEON MILTON PHILLIPSSergeant · March 9, 1968
- MELTON HOWARD PRESLEYSpecialist Four · 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
- JOSEPH ESPINO PEREZPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 68
- MELTON HOWARD PRESLEYSpecialist Four · 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 Atlanta
- DAVID NIPPERLance Corporal · November 21, 1964
- JAMES ANTHONY COYAirman First Class · June 11, 1965
- JAMES THARPE BROWN JRPrivate First Class · June 25, 1965
- WESLIE DAVID MEWBORNPetty Officer First Class · September 8, 1964
- DOUGLAS HORACE LEACHSpecialist Four · November 15, 1965
- RONNIE THOMAS MATHISSergeant · November 17, 1965
- GEORGE S MCHELLONSpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- JAMES CARL WISE JRMajor · December 23, 1965
- CLIFFORD THOMAS JOHNSONPrivate · January 29, 1966
- HARVEY LEWIS BOWEN JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
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.