James Gabriel Jr ★ Vietnam War Gold Star Veteran from Hawaii
On April 8, 1962 Specialist Five Gabriel was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. ★ He served with honor in the United States Army. ★ He is remembered by the people of Hawaii. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
We all benefit when we work together to honor fallen American service members. The Honor States archive is a grassroots initiative. Of the people, by the people, for the people.
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Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of James Gabriel Jr is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2016-12-01 23:11:20.
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Missing : Core Data
· Middle name
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Missing : Supplemental Data
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Service Details
This Profile ID | 273520 |
Service ID | 10110424 |
Name | James Gabriel Jr |
From | Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii |
Birth Date | March 22, 1938 |
Casualty Date | April 8, 1962 |
War | Vietnam War |
Service Branch | Army |
Rank | Specialist Five |
Specialty | Combat Engineer |
Unit/Group | Special Forces, 1st Special Forces Group, A 1 213 |
Casualty Type | MIA, POW Captured, Died while missing in action .. small arms fire |
Location | Executed- An Phu Dong, South Vietnam, Chau Doc province |
Burial | National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu |
Notable Awards |
★ Bronze Star
★ Prisoner of War Medal
★ Purple Heart |
Remembered |
James Gabriel Jr is buried or memorialized at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. James is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 01e, Line 8. |
Additional Details
He was the first Special Forces soldier and the first Hawaiian to be killed in the Vietnam War.
Gabriel, 24, a specialist 5, and Sgt. Wayne Marchand were executed by Viet Cong sympathizers on April 8, 1962, during a training mission in a remote village seven miles from Da Nang. A 1962 Time magazine report said Gabriel and Marchand were in the third night of a two-week field exercise near the village of An Chau, 360 miles north of Saigon, when they were killed. His group was attacked at daybreak. Gabriel was shot three times in the chest and stomach while calling vainly for reinforcements.
Before he fell, Gabriel radioed a final message to the base at Da Nang: "Ammunition is running short and we are being overrun." He was captured and later killed.
On May 22nd 2010 the Fifth Special Forces Group officially dedicated the Gabriel Memorial Field at Fort Campbell Kentucky. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Bronze Star
★ Prisoner of War Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ Combat Infantryman Badge
★ National Defense Service Medal
★ Vietnam Campaign Medal
★ Vietnam Service Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.
Hawaii Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of
Hawaii who gave their all for their country.
May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world.
Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ Hawaii was home to over 827
American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
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▼ USS Midway Museum 75th Pearl Harbor Wall of Honor
▼ National Memorial Day Parade with Spirit of 45
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Honor States Admin
Roy "Joker"
Sarah Jo "Lady Chaos"
▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
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