The Wall › Panel 10E › Minnesota › Michael Joseph Compton
MICHAEL JOSEPH COMPTON
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 2, 1946 – August 20, 1966
Service recordMichael Joseph Compton, of Lake Crystal, Minnesota, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on August 20, 1966, in South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 10E, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 10E · Line 20
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Field Artillery Basic (13A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- January 2, 1946
- Home of record
- Lake Crystal, Minnesota (Blue Earth County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 20, 1966
- Age
- 20
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
17 names on the Wall carry the date August 20, 1966. In August 1966, 501 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 10E, Line 20
- CHARLES LEE MAXIEStaff Sergeant · August 19, 1966
- CLIFFORD MCCALLPrivate First Class · August 19, 1966
- LAWRENCE D WATKINS JRPrivate First Class · August 19, 1966
- FRANK JOHN AUGUSTPrivate First Class · August 20, 1966
Same unit, same day
- ALLEN CLARENCE ROCKPrivate First Class · Panel 10E, Line 22
From Lake Crystal
- DAVID LEIGH WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · April 4, 1968
- GARY MICHAEL MEIERPrivate First Class · May 5, 1968
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.
