The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966.
Troopers of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, make a combat assault, December 1966. Photo: SP5 Charles V. Hoover, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Michael J Ciesielka JR.

The Wall › Panel 37W › Pennsylvania › Michael J Ciesielka JR

MICHAEL J CIESIELKA JR

First Lieutenant · U.S. Army

January 23, 1948 – December 9, 1968

Service record

Michael J Ciesielka JR, of Eddington, Pennsylvania, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on December 9, 1968, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 37W, Line 72 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 37W · Line 72

Position of Panel 37W 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.

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
First Lieutenant (1LT)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
Unit (as recorded)
1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born
January 23, 1948
Home of record
Eddington, Pennsylvania (Bucks County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 9, 1968
Age
20
Province
Binh Long
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

31 names on the Wall carry the date December 9, 1968; 15 of them were lost in Binh Long Province. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 103 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 37W, Line 72

Same unit, same day

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.