The Wall › Panel 42E › Virginia › Michael Lane Charles
MICHAEL LANE CHARLES
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
October 1, 1948 – March 3, 1968
Service recordMichael Lane Charles, of Bristol, Virginia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 3, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 49 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 49
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- October 1, 1948
- Home of record
- Bristol, Virginia (Bristol (City) County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 3, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
65 names on the Wall carry the date March 3, 1968; he was the only one lost in Quảng Nam Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam 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 42E, Line 49
- ABRAHAM LINCO COLON-PEREZStaff Sergeant · March 3, 1968
- PHILIP MARVIN CREWSSergeant · March 3, 1968
- VINCENT ANTHONY DATENASpecialist Four · March 3, 1968
- FRANK ROBERT DIMMITTCaptain · March 3, 1968
From Bristol
- JAMES E BOWERSSergeant · August 18, 1966
- CHARLES LONG FAULKNERFirst Lieutenant · November 26, 1966
- ROBERT DAVID BUCHANANPrivate First Class · October 14, 1967
- JAMES BRYON FARMER IILance Corporal · March 16, 1968
- LONNIE MORRIS BURCHETTPrivate First Class · July 10, 1968
- CHARLES C BUCHANANCorporal · August 28, 1969
- GUY THOMAS DENTONPetty Officer Second Class · March 16, 1970
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.