The Wall › Panel 46E › Indiana › Michal Alvin Merkel
MICHAL ALVIN MERKEL
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
November 9, 1942 – March 24, 1968
Service recordMichal Alvin Merkel, of Indianapolis, Indiana, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 24, 1968, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 46E, Line 9 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46E · Line 9
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- ADV TM 21 MACV
- Born
- November 9, 1942
- Home of record
- Indianapolis, Indiana (Marion County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 24, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
58 names on the Wall carry the date March 24, 1968; two of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Pleiku 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 46E, Line 9
- EUGENE PHILLIP MCKINNEYCaptain · March 24, 1968
- KENNETH LAWRENCE NEALSpecialist Four · March 24, 1968
- GEORGE JAMES NICHOLSONPrivate First Class · March 24, 1968
- ERIC BJARNE NILSENPrivate First Class · March 24, 1968
From Indianapolis
- JAMES EDWARD CAUGHEYSpecialist Four · August 14, 1964
- CLARENCE LEROY COLEMANSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- IVAN RAY SMITHPrivate First Class · May 13, 1965
- KENNETH LEROY REEDStaff Sergeant · June 12, 1965
- JOHN POWERS DAVISSpecialist Five · July 21, 1965
- CURLEY SHERELS JRCorporal · August 18, 1965
- ALVIN CARVER FORNEYCorporal · September 1, 1965
- WILLIAM LARRIE HUNTPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- THOMAS CURTIS METSKERCaptain · November 14, 1965
- VILIS LISMENTSCorporal · November 22, 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.