MATOCHA, DONALD JOHN

Remains Found 03/2004 
Identified 08/2004

Name: Donald John Matocha
Branch/Rank: United States Marine Corps/O1
Unit: D CO 3 REC BN 3 MAR DIV
Date of Birth: 31 January 1945
Home City of Record: SMITHVILLE TX
Date of Loss: 05 April 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 164854 North  1065815 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: GROUND
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Refno:

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.  2020

REMARKS:

CACCF/GUNSHOT OR SMALL ARMS FIRE 3 YRS USMC/QUANG TRI

No further information available at this time.

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Remains of Marine killed in Vietnam coming home to Texas
08/12/2004
http://www.fox23news.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=739AF512-1EBE-4345-8322-A5CE2C182176

SMITHVILLE, Texas (AP) - ...Marine 2nd Lt. Donald John Matocha of Smithville
was killed in a firefight in April 1968 on Dong Ma mountain in what was then the
Republic of South Vietnam, but his body was not recovered.....

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http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=119410&SecID=2

Vietnam vet's remains return
9/14/2004 11:07 AM
By: News 8 Austin Staff

The remains of a Marine from Smithville,...2nd Lt. Donald Matocha was killed
in a firefight in April, 1968 and his body placed in a makeshift grave by
Vietnamese soldiers on a mountain.....

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000rDTVPEA4

2DLT DONALD JOHN MATOCHA

Return to Service Member Profiles

On June 17, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Second Lieutenant Donald John Matocha, missing from the Vietnam War.

Second Lieutenant Matocha entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Texas and was a member of Company D, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. On April 5, 1968, he was leading a reconnaissance patrol in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. While checking out a cave, the patrol came under heavy enemy fire, killing 2dLt Matocha. Sniper and mortar fire curtailed all attempts to recover 2dLt Matocha's remains at the time. In 1997, U.S. investigators traveled to Quang Tri Province and recovered human remains from a burial site correlating to this incident, and were later able to identify 2dLt Matocha from these remains.

Second Lieutenant Matocha is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.