The Wall › Panel 45E › Missouri › Michael James Cordia
MICHAEL JAMES CORDIA
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 3, 1947 – March 20, 1968
Service recordMichael James Cordia, of Richwoods, Missouri, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 20, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 38
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
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- August 3, 1947
- Home of record
- Richwoods, Missouri (Washington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 20, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date March 20, 1968; five of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 28 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi 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 45E, Line 38
- THEODORE BELTONCorporal · March 20, 1968
- DENNIS RICHARD CANTLERCorporal · March 20, 1968
- JOSEPH J CASSIDY JRSergeant · March 20, 1968
- BRUCE ALVIN COUILLARDCaptain · March 20, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DICK E CUFFSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 39
- GREGORY FREDRICK MOSSFORDPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 41
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.