The Wall › Panel 3E › Arizona › Billy Melton Knight
BILLY MELTON KNIGHT
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
September 18, 1937 – November 16, 1965
Service recordBilly Melton Knight, of Ganado, Arizona, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on November 16, 1965, in South Vietnam, at age 28. His name is inscribed on Panel 3E, Line 66 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3E · Line 66
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Ah-64 Attack Helicopter Repairer (67R)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- September 18, 1937
- Home of record
- Ganado, Arizona (Apache County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 16, 1965
- Age
- 28
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date November 16, 1965. In November 1965, 545 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 318 of its members that month.
He died in South Vietnam while the Battle of the Ia Đrăng Valley was under way. In the Ia Đrăng Valley (14–18 November 1965), battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fought North Vietnamese regulars at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany — the first major battle between the two armies and the first great test of the helicopter war. The record gives the date and his unit, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which fought in the battle, but not the exact place.
Read the history
Also on Panel 3E, Line 66
- DONALD GEORGE GREENCaptain · November 16, 1965
- RONALD RAY HORNBROOKPetty Officer Third Class · November 16, 1965
- TOMMIE KEETONSpecialist Four · November 16, 1965
- REAVIS A MONTREY JRPrivate First Class · November 16, 1965
Same unit, same day
- BENEDICTO PIOSALAN BAYRONWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 3E, Line 64
- CALVIN BOUKNIGHTSpecialist Five · Panel 3E, Line 64
- RICHARD BURTON BRADLEYStaff Sergeant · Panel 3E, Line 64
- EDDIE BROWN JRPrivate First Class · Panel 3E, Line 65
- LUTHER VERMONT GILREATHSergeant First Class · Panel 3E, Line 65
- TOMMIE KEETONSpecialist Four · Panel 3E, Line 66
- JAMES LEWIS RILEYSergeant · Panel 3E, Line 67
- BILLY J TALLEYWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 3E, Line 67
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.