The Wall › Panel 29E › Oklahoma › Alpha Lee Buford
ALPHA LEE BUFORD
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 14, 1941 – November 8, 1967
Service recordAlpha Lee Buford, of El Reno, Oklahoma, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 8, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 29E, Line 47 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29E · Line 47
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- October 14, 1941
- Home of record
- El Reno, Oklahoma (Canadian County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 8, 1967
- Age
- 26
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
46 names on the Wall carry the date November 8, 1967; 11 of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 142 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 29E, Line 47
- BRUCE RAYMOND BAXTERMaster Sergeant · November 8, 1967
- JOHN WOODRUFF BROOKSSergeant · November 8, 1967
- MICHAEL JOHN CALLAHANPrivate First Class · November 8, 1967
- ROGER ROBERT CAUTHERNCorporal · November 8, 1967
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES DOTYPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 48
- DAVID ANTHONY HAYESPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 49
- MARION F HENDERSONSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 49
- WILLIAM LEE JUETTPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 50
- EARL DAWSON LAWRENCEPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 51
- RICHARD ALLEN MEHNEPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 52
- DOUGLAS EDWARD SOLOMONSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 53
- GARY WALTER SCHMITTPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 54
- KENNETH WAYNE TINGLESpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 55
From El Reno
- RONALD LEE WATSONSpecialist Four · August 25, 1966
- JAMES TERENCE BAYNELance Corporal · September 18, 1966
- DONALD LEE GUSTAFSONStaff Sergeant · May 8, 1967
- CLARENCE FINLEY BLANTONLieutenant Colonel · March 11, 1968
- SAMMY RAY SMITHSergeant · April 16, 1968
- JOE ED RILEY JRSpecialist Four · May 10, 1968
- ROBERT DEAN PLATOMaster Sergeant · May 20, 1968
- JOHN MARSHALL HOLLOWAYStaff Sergeant · February 14, 1969
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.