The Wall › Panel 9W › Texas › Michael Joe Higginbotham
MICHAEL JOE HIGGINBOTHAM
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 5, 1950 – June 8, 1970
Service recordMichael Joe Higginbotham, of Lancaster, Texas, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on June 8, 1970, in Cambodia, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 9W, Line 27 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9W · Line 27
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- November 5, 1950
- Home of record
- Lancaster, Texas (Dallas County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 8, 1970
- Age
- 19
- Country
- Cambodia
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date June 8, 1970. In June 1970, 560 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 33 of its members that month.
He died in Cambodia while the Cambodian incursion was under way. From 29 April to 30 June 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese base areas and supply caches; the announcement set off campus protests, including at Kent State.
Also on Panel 9W, Line 27
- THOMAS EDWARD HEALYSergeant · June 8, 1970
- DAVID FRANKLIN HELMSpecialist Four · June 8, 1970
- MAHLON LEWIS KELLEYSergeant · June 8, 1970
- ALBERT ALFRED STLAWRENCESergeant · June 8, 1970
Same unit, same day
- CLARK FRANKLIN ROGERSSpecialist Four · Panel 9W, Line 29
From Lancaster
- RONALD WAYNE MARRSSpecialist Four · May 13, 1969
- ROY PHILLIP GARGUSSpecialist Four · June 4, 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.