Charles Elbert Beals from French Lick, Indiana.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, July 7, 1970
Death details: On July 7, 1970, a platoon from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment was engaged in a firefight in the vicinity of grid coordinates YD 335 193. On initial contact, two members of the platoon were killed. The platoon attempted to advance uphill but was driven back and held for roughly six hours by heavy enemy fire. Eventually, the unit was forced to withdraw, but the enemy fire made it impossible to recover the members of the platoon who had been killed during the engagement.
Specialist 4 Charles Elbert Beals, who entered the U.S. Army from Indiana, served in Company D, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was a member of this platoon and was wounded during the initial burst of enemy fire. He was hit again before he could be moved to cover. Attempts to reach his body were driven back by the enemy, and his body could not be recovered as the platoon withdrew from the area. Further attempts to locate his remains were unsuccessful. Today, Specialist 4 Beals is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
