The Wall › Panel 18E › Tennessee › Billy J Patterson
BILLY J PATTERSON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 9, 1945 – April 19, 1967
Service recordBilly J Patterson, of Nashville, Tennessee, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on April 19, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 18E, Line 50 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18E · Line 50
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV
- Born
- December 9, 1945
- Home of record
- Nashville, Tennessee (Davidson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 19, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date April 19, 1967; he was the only one lost in Tây Ninh Province that day. In April 1967, 887 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “3/5 CAV 9 INF DIV”, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault of the war. 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 18E, Line 50
- JAMES CLIFFORD PEARSONPrivate First Class · April 19, 1967
- LARRY RAY REEVESWarrant Officer 1 · April 19, 1967
- JAMES RAY SCALFLance Corporal · April 19, 1967
- JOHN HAROLD SHERMANPrivate First Class · April 19, 1967
From Nashville
- ALVIN G PARKERPrivate First Class · February 7, 1965
- DALLAS LAWSONPrivate First Class · February 10, 1965
- THOMAS C MCEWEN JRCaptain · February 24, 1965
- VARIS SAVAGE JRSergeant · November 6, 1965
- JOHN EDWARD FUQUASecond Lieutenant · January 31, 1966
- JOE KENNETH TAYLORSpecialist Four · February 22, 1966
- CLARENCE MITCHELLSergeant · February 26, 1966
- DENNIS EDWARD HOLTPrivate · March 30, 1966
- ROGER DALE JARRELLPrivate First Class · April 3, 1966
- JASPER LEE KEENSergeant · May 19, 1966
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.