The Wall › Panel 48E › West Virginia › Michael Lee Ransbottom
MICHAEL LEE RANSBOTTOM
Corporal · U.S. Army
November 15, 1947 – April 7, 1968
Service recordMichael Lee Ransbottom, of Huntington, West Virginia, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on April 7, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 48E, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 48E · Line 46
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
- Medical Equipment Repairer (91A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- November 15, 1947
- Home of record
- Huntington, West Virginia (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 7, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
62 names on the Wall carry the date April 7, 1968; 32 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 134 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 48E, Line 46
- JEARL RAY PATTENSpecialist Four · April 7, 1968
- ROBERT CHARLES PEDAFirst Lieutenant · April 7, 1968
- JOHN FRANKLIN QUATTLEBAUMPrivate · April 7, 1968
- JOSEPH MAURICE REESPrivate First Class · April 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOHN ADKINSCorporal · Panel 48E, Line 38
- ROBERT L SAMUELSONSergeant · Panel 48E, Line 43
- ROBERT WALTER MCCASKEYMajor · Panel 48E, Line 44
- ROBERT CHARLES PEDAFirst Lieutenant · Panel 48E, Line 46
- OTTO WILLIAM SEESergeant First Class · Panel 48E, Line 47
From Huntington
- GERALD BRUCE ROSESpecialist Five · February 22, 1965
- GLENN MCARTHUR LANEPetty Officer Second Class · October 26, 1965
- JACKIE L WAYMIRESergeant · January 9, 1967
- EMORY LE ROY TAYLORPrivate First Class · April 17, 1967
- RONALD KEITH NEALPetty Officer Third Class · April 21, 1967
- JOHNNY MALCOLM JOHNSONPrivate First Class · May 21, 1967
- JAMES RICHARD EMMERTSergeant · June 22, 1967
- WILLIAM EDWARD CRAFTSergeant First Class · September 25, 1967
- LESTER LEE MEADOWS JRSpecialist Four · September 29, 1967
- HARON LEE BROWN IIFirst Lieutenant · December 14, 1967
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.