The Wall › Panel 5W › Illinois › Vern Eric Odom JR
VERN ERIC ODOM JR
Corporal · U.S. Army
July 22, 1949 – December 24, 1970
Service recordVern Eric Odom JR, of Wheaton, Illinois, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on December 24, 1970, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5W · Line 6
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- July 22, 1949
- Home of record
- Wheaton, Illinois (Du Page County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 24, 1970
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date December 24, 1970; nine of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In December 1970, 271 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 32 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 5W, Line 6
- THOMAS GREGORY NOBLESpecialist Four · December 24, 1970
- MICHAEL RAY NUGENTSergeant · December 24, 1970
- WESLEY LEE PHILLIPSCorporal · December 24, 1970
- STEVE POHANCEKSpecialist Four · December 24, 1970
Same unit, same day
- PAUL JOHN DAMATO JRSpecialist Four · Panel 5W, Line 4
- GREGORY WAYNE FELKERSpecialist Four · Panel 5W, Line 4
- LARRY MICHAEL HEENSpecialist Four · Panel 5W, Line 5
- CALVIN DAVID MACKCorporal · Panel 5W, Line 5
- THOMAS GREGORY NOBLESpecialist Four · Panel 5W, Line 6
- MICHAEL RAY NUGENTSergeant · Panel 5W, Line 6
- WESLEY LEE PHILLIPSCorporal · Panel 5W, Line 6
- STEVE POHANCEKSpecialist Four · Panel 5W, Line 6
From Wheaton
- BRUCE DOUGLAS WEBBCaptain · August 18, 1965
- DONALD FREDERICK GIBSONStaff Sergeant · August 26, 1966
- JOHN RICHARD GREGOIRESpecialist Four · April 2, 1967
- RICHARD LEE BLASENLance Corporal · June 3, 1967
- JOHN ANDREW DONNALLieutenant Colonel · August 1, 1967
- JON FRANCIS VANDUYNStaff Sergeant · April 8, 1968
- FLOYD WARREN OLSENLieutenant Colonel · April 21, 1968
- KENNETH KEITH KNABB JRLieutenant Commander · October 21, 1968
- EDWARD LEE GUSTAFSONPrivate First Class · November 1, 1968
- JOHN SHELBY POOLERSpecialist Four · November 29, 1968
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.