The Wall › Panel 37E › Missouri › Billy Joe Blacksten
BILLY JOE BLACKSTEN
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
February 1, 1945 – February 4, 1968
Service recordBilly Joe Blacksten, of Versailles, Missouri, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 4, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 18
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- February 1, 1945
- Home of record
- Versailles, Missouri (Morgan County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 4, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
68 names on the Wall carry the date February 4, 1968; five of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 125 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 37E, Line 18
- LOUIS ROBERT BALOGSergeant · February 4, 1968
- DINGUS BANKS JRFirst Lieutenant · February 4, 1968
- WILLIAM CAREL BARNES JRPrivate First Class · February 4, 1968
- FREDRICK HALL BECKMEYERPetty Officer Third Class · February 4, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CLYDE RONALD MENZStaff Sergeant · Panel 37E, Line 25
- DONALD MORRIS WILLEYStaff Sergeant · Panel 37E, Line 29
From Versailles
- LARRY L HOWELLSpecialist Four · April 28, 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.