The Wall › Panel 21E › Alabama › Billy Ray Laney
BILLY RAY LANEY
Master Sergeant · U.S. Army
August 21, 1939 – June 3, 1967
Service recordBilly Ray Laney, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was lost on June 3, 1967, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 21E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 21E · Line 48
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
- Master Sergeant (MSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Senior Sergeant (11Z)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- August 21, 1939
- Home of record
- Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- June 3, 1967
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
70 names on the Wall carry the date June 3, 1967. In June 1967, 948 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 17 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 21E, Line 48
- JOSEPH M KIERNAN JRLieutenant Colonel · June 3, 1967
- WILLIAM EVERETT MARTINSecond Lieutenant · June 3, 1967
- DENNIS EUGENE MONFILSPrivate First Class · June 3, 1967
- KEITH MILTON MOSER IIPrivate First Class · June 3, 1967
Same unit, same day
- RONALD JAMES DEXTERSergeant Major · Panel 21E, Line 43
From Birmingham
- SHERMAN ELLIOT WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · July 9, 1965
- CARL WILLIAM MANNPrivate First Class · September 21, 1965
- ROBERT WARREN ALLENPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- GENE WILLIAM WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · October 12, 1965
- JAMES J HOWARDSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- CLEO LOCKETTCorporal · November 8, 1965
- HAROLD JAMES BATTLEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1965
- HAROLD EUGENE WATKINSLance Corporal · November 12, 1965
- CHARLES WILLIAM STOREYStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD EARL HARPERSpecialist Four · January 12, 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.