The Wall › Panel 36E › Michigan › Vernon Charles Wilderspin
VERNON CHARLES WILDERSPIN
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
March 7, 1943 – January 31, 1968
Service recordVernon Charles Wilderspin, of East Lansing, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · 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
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Medical Specialist (91B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- March 7, 1943
- Home of record
- East Lansing, Michigan (Ingham County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Binh Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; five of them were lost in Binh Long Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 73 of its members that month.
He died in Binh Long 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 36E, Line 42
- LUCION PERRY WELLSSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- ROBERT LEE WHITLEYLance Corporal · January 31, 1968
- MELVIN JOE WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- TERRY JOE WILLIAMSSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CLYDE B BRAUGHTON JRSergeant · Panel 35E, Line 88
- HOWARD EARL BUTTONSergeant First Class · Panel 35E, Line 89
- PATRICK CYRIL CARTNEYSpecialist Five · Panel 36E, Line 1
- ALFRED PATRICK L COFFROTHSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 3
- SAM HARRIS GALLOWAYSecond Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 9
- GIDEON PICHA JOHNSONSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 18
- HELMUT GUSTAV LAKASZUSStaff Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 20
- JAMES PERRY LANIERSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 20
- JOSEPH VIETO MARRONESpecialist Five · Panel 36E, Line 24
- RUSSELL E MILBERRYPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 25
- MICHAEL ALAN POGUEPrivate First Class · Panel 36E, Line 31
- JAMES STANCELL JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 38
- JAMES LEWIS WAGESSergeant First Class · Panel 36E, Line 38
- STEVEN WILLIAM ZIEGLERStaff Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 44
From East Lansing
- GEOFFREY EMMONS GREENFirst Lieutenant · September 8, 1965
- JAMES PHILLIP LACLEARPrivate First Class · May 12, 1966
- JOHN EDWARD CANTLON JRPrivate First Class · November 24, 1966
- DOUGLAS J MILLERSergeant · December 10, 1966
- CRAIG GEOFFREY KNOBLOCHPrivate First Class · February 11, 1968
- NORMAN ALAN FREDASecond Lieutenant · January 31, 1969
- ASA PARKER GRAY JRColonel · May 13, 1969
- LEO FRANCIS HARTSUFFSergeant · September 7, 1969
- THEODORE RICHARD LEIGHTONFirst Lieutenant · January 27, 1970
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.