The Wall › Panel 39E › Indiana › Michael J Kurella
MICHAEL J KURELLA
Corporal · U.S. Army
August 30, 1946 – February 14, 1968
Service recordMichael J Kurella, of Whiting, Indiana, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on February 14, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 35
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- August 30, 1946
- Home of record
- Whiting, Indiana (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 168 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 39E, Line 35
- LOUIS WILSON KALBLance Corporal · February 14, 1968
- RONALD FRANK KLOSSpecialist Four · February 14, 1968
- DONALD LEE LLOYDStaff Sergeant · February 14, 1968
- ALLEN THOMAS SMITHCorporal · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- HOWARD CLAYTON BELLSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 28
- EDWARD LEE FRAZIERPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 32
- LUTHER PAGE JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 39E, Line 36
From Whiting
- DAVID GRANT BROWNCorporal · October 14, 1965
- RICHARD FRANCIS BUBALAPrivate First Class · April 11, 1966
- RONALD PHILIP SOUCYPetty Officer First Class · May 23, 1967
- GERALD FRANCIS LENZPrivate First Class · January 20, 1968
- DENNIS ROBERT MUVICHSecond Lieutenant · May 19, 1968
- JOHN ROBERT KLAPAK JRSpecialist Four · May 4, 1969
- TEDDY LEON HAMELCorporal · November 25, 1969
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.