The Wall › Panel 41E › Illinois › Willie Lee James
WILLIE LEE JAMES
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 21, 1946 – February 26, 1968
Service recordWillie Lee James, of Chicago, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 26, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 39 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 39
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- December 21, 1946
- Home of record
- Chicago, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 26, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
63 names on the Wall carry the date February 26, 1968; he was the only one lost in Kon Tum Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 140 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum 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 41E, Line 39
- ROBERT ALLEN JANSSergeant · February 26, 1968
- DENNIS JOHN KROMREYPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
- GARY KENNETH LANNOMPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
- ANTHONY LAROCCOPrivate First Class · February 26, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DAVID JOHN LINKPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 40
From Chicago
- MELVIN LESTER WATERSPrivate · February 10, 1965
- WILLIAM RALPH FUHRMANPetty Officer Third Class · April 23, 1965
- RAYMOND LEON HORNCorporal · May 1, 1965
- ARTHUR C JEPSON JRCaptain · May 16, 1965
- DONALD CLAY DEDMONStaff Sergeant · June 10, 1965
- ROGER PELIKANLance Corporal · July 17, 1965
- HARRY COHENTechnical Sergeant · July 19, 1969
- CURTIS LOCKHARTPrivate First Class · July 30, 1965
- EDWARD KOPECPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- JAMES LEO WHITELance Corporal · August 19, 1965
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.