The Wall › Panel 40E › New York › Michael Thomas Lacoste
MICHAEL THOMAS LACOSTE
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
November 5, 1949 – February 20, 1968
Service recordMichael Thomas Lacoste, of New York, New York, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 20, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 42
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Assaultman (0351)
- Born
- November 5, 1949
- Home of record
- New York, New York (Kings County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 20, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
76 names on the Wall carry the date February 20, 1968; eight of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 40E, Line 42
- JIMMIE DOUGLAS JONESSpecialist Four · February 20, 1968
- RICHARD JOSEPH KELLEYFirst Lieutenant · February 20, 1968
- DENNIS DWAIN KINGFirst Lieutenant · February 20, 1968
- LAUNEY E KINGSpecialist Five · February 20, 1968
From New York
- WALTER R MCCARTHY JRCaptain · June 16, 1962
- JOHN HOWARD MCCLEANCaptain · August 16, 1963
- DONALD ALLAN MOLLICONEFirst Lieutenant · December 20, 1963
- VINCENT JOSEPH HICKMANCaptain · January 14, 1964
- MARTIN STOCKFEDERPrivate First Class · July 15, 1964
- ROBERT GEORGE ARMSTRONGFirst Lieutenant · October 24, 1964
- DOMINICK SANSONESergeant First Class · December 10, 1964
- DONALD GILBERT COOKColonel · December 31, 1964
- TERENCE MEREDITH MURPHYLieutenant (junior grade) · April 9, 1965
- ROBERT CARL WISTRANDColonel · May 9, 1965
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.