The Wall › Panel 39E › Texas › Vitalio Vela JR
VITALIO VELA JR
Sergeant · U.S. Army
February 13, 1944 – February 14, 1968
Service recordVitalio Vela JR, of Falfurrias, Texas, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 14, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 41 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 41
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 ARMORED CAV
- Born
- February 13, 1944
- Home of record
- Falfurrias, Texas (Brooks County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; six of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “11 ARMORED CAV”, his unit in the record, lost 13 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 39E, Line 41
- JOHN FRANKLIN TYRRELLPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- ERNEST MURRAL WEATHERSBEEPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- JOSEPH ROBERT WEAVER JRPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- JEFFREY RAYMOND WENTZELLLance Corporal · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RANDALL JOHN GUSTAFSONPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 33
- JOSEPH ROBERT WEAVER JRPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 41
From Falfurrias
- OSCAR GARCIAStaff Sergeant · October 28, 1966
- PATRICIO MALDONADO JRSergeant · February 28, 1968
- DOMINGO RODRIGUEZ JRPrivate · March 6, 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.