The Wall › Panel 36E › Michigan › Vernon H Christoffer JR
VERNON H CHRISTOFFER JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 7, 1949 – January 31, 1968
Service recordVernon H Christoffer JR, of Saugatuck, Michigan, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 21
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV
- Born
- March 7, 1949
- Home of record
- Saugatuck, Michigan (Allegan County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- 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; 34 of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV”, his unit in the record, lost 10 of its members that month.
He died in Bien Hoa 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 21
- RICHARD FALCON DELGADOSpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- DANNY LEWIS LASUREPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- BILLIE LEWIS LEELance Corporal · January 31, 1968
- WILLIAM ROBERT LEEWarrant Officer 1 · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- PETER MARK BUTLERSpecialist Four · Panel 35E, Line 89
- MICHAEL LEONARD HOLIDAYSergeant · Panel 36E, Line 15
- RICHARD ALBERT JACKSONStaff Sergeant · Panel 36E, Line 17
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.