The Wall › Panel 40E › Michigan › Melvin Udelson Wangeshik
MELVIN UDELSON WANGESHIK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 3, 1947 – February 19, 1968
Service recordMelvin Udelson Wangeshik, of Traverse City, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 19, 1968, in Long An Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 34 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 34
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 ARMORED CAV
- Born
- February 3, 1947
- Home of record
- Traverse City, Michigan (Grand Traverse County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 19, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Long An
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
93 names on the Wall carry the date February 19, 1968; three of them were lost in Long An Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “11 ARMORED CAV”, his unit in the record, lost 13 of its members that month.
He died in Long An 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 40E, Line 34
- MICHAEL WALTER WARRENPrivate First Class · February 19, 1968
- JAMES ROBERT WEBSTER JRSpecialist Four · February 19, 1968
- DOUGLAS CANDIT WILLIAMSSergeant · February 19, 1968
- ARCHIE VAUGHN WILLISPrivate First Class · February 19, 1968
From Traverse City
- THOMAS NEIL YAGLELance Corporal · April 16, 1966
- WARREN W COBLEYSergeant First Class · July 8, 1966
- RICHARD LEE OTTELance Corporal · September 7, 1967
- DOUGLAS MEREDITH MCNABBSpecialist Four · February 23, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES HARRINGTONPrivate · June 4, 1968
- JAMES IVAN JAQUISHSpecialist Four · September 25, 1969
- MICHAEL PATRICK MCQUEERSpecialist Four · November 11, 1969
- GERALD DOUGLAS TOMLINSONCorporal · February 4, 1970
- HOFF RALPH HENRY VONDERPrivate First Class · August 28, 1970
- RICHARD HENRY DEFERMajor · October 18, 1971
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.