The Wall › Panel 46E › California › Steven John Gaftunik
STEVEN JOHN GAFTUNIK
Private First Class · U.S. Army
September 12, 1947 – March 27, 1968
Service recordSteven John Gaftunik, of Sacramento, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 27, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 46E, Line 45 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46E · Line 45
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- September 12, 1947
- Home of record
- Sacramento, California (Sacramento County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 27, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 27, 1968; five of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 188 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương 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 45
- JOHNNY C CALHOUNSergeant First Class · March 27, 1968
- MICHAEL LEO DOANECorporal · March 27, 1968
- DONALD CARLTON EMERYLance Corporal · March 27, 1968
- MARVIN EARL GALBRAITHLance Corporal · March 27, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT JOHN FRISKSergeant · Panel 46E, Line 44
- LOUIS WILLIAM HAMILFirst Lieutenant · Panel 46E, Line 46
- CARL ALVIN SHUTT JRSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 50
From Sacramento
- IRVING ALBERT SELFSergeant · May 19, 1964
- LEONARD PAUL HUDSONFirst Lieutenant · November 19, 1964
- CRAIG LOUIS HAGENSergeant · June 10, 1965
- DAVID LEVANT FELTPrivate First Class · August 17, 1965
- RICHARD GRIFFITH PHILBINPrivate First Class · February 2, 1966
- PHILLIP ANTHONY LOTTAPrivate First Class · February 25, 1966
- MICHAEL ANTHONY GILSONPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- RICHARD LEE LAWSLieutenant · April 3, 1966
- ROBERT LEE FOSTERPrivate First Class · May 17, 1966
- GERALD C HUNSBARGER IIIPrivate First Class · June 2, 1966
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.