LCPL John Frederick Lewis, Joliet, IL on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

"John's father, Frederick B Lewis, was born June 5, 1909 in Joliet and a lifetime resident until he and his wife, Olive, moved to Silver Springs Shores, Florida in 1980. Frederick was a United States World War II Army Veteran serving in the European and African Middle Eastern Theaters.

According to his record, it appears John enlisted in the Marine Corp Delayed Entry Program on 12 April 1966 in Chicago and entered on active duty on 5 August 1966. After his training and probable assignments stateside, he was ordered overseas, arriving in Vietnam on October 15, 1967 where he was assigned to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines.

At 1125 hours, 17 February 1968, G Company was on a search and destroy operation near map grid coordinates YD 774207 when they received automatic weapons and small arms fire. They returned fire with their automatic weapons and small arms. As a result of the contact, the Marines lost one Killed in Action (KIA) and 2 wounded in action (WIA).

Records show that LCPL John Frederick Lewis, Joliet Illinois, died from gunshot wounds but does not say he was the KIA or admitted to the hospital only to expire later.

CPL David Howard Warner, Mercer Island, Washington, has no documents on file to say how he died and if he was the first KIA or one of the two WIA who died later.

LCPL Kenneth Earl Stetson, Longmont Colorado, was one of the wounded evacuated. His records show he "died 2115 hours at 3rd Medical Battalion, Phu Bai, after being wounded by a gunshot wound to the body from hostile rifle fire while on an operation against a hostile force sustained 1000 hrs Thua Thien Province."

- - The Virtual Wall
April 3, 2013