1st Cavalry Division patch
D Co. 2/8 CAV
Angry Skipper Archive
John Karr
John
Karr
1LT  ·  Skull  ·  1542 · Infantry Unit Commander
KIA
In-Country Service
1969-03-12 –
Home of Record
Kenner, Jefferson Parish, LA
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Timeline
Photos
Served alongside
Verbal accounts
Documents
Letters
Service record
External resources

Service timeline not yet compiled. If you served with or knew John Karr, please use the contribute form to share what you remember.

1969-03-12
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — March 12, 1969
1LT John Karr began his tour with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division, Republic of Vietnam.
1969-05-25
KIA
Killed in action — May 25, 1969
On May 25, 1969, 1LT John Karr — leader of D Company's Skull Platoon, radio callsign "White Skull" — was killed in Hau Nghia Province when a single command-detonated B-40 rocket, rigged in trees above a trail, was set off over the platoon. The blast killed Karr together with his radio-telephone operator, CPL Wayne Garven, and CPL Richard White; his casualty record gives the cause as an "other explosive device." Remembered by a comrade as a VMI graduate and, possibly, a new father, Karr had been in Vietnam barely ten weeks. See /events/trail-ambush-hau-nghia-1969-05-25/ and the family account left by the son of fellow RTO Ray Clooney.
1969-05-25
Casualty record
Hau Nghia Province, III Corps, RVN

Did You Know John, or Serve Alongside John?

We are actively collecting photographs, letters, and memories for this profile. Submissions are reviewed before publication. If you served with John — or are a family member with materials — we'd be grateful to hear from you.

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