The Wall › Panel 4W › Texas › Billy Ray Parnell
BILLY RAY PARNELL
Corporal · U.S. Army
June 25, 1952 – March 31, 1971
Service recordBilly Ray Parnell, of Winnie, Texas, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on March 31, 1971, in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 97 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 97
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- June 25, 1952
- Home of record
- Winnie, Texas (Chambers County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1971
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Binh Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1971; three of them were lost in Bình Định Province. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 14 of its members that month.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 4W, Line 97
- MICHAEL SHEA MCLHERNPrivate First Class · March 31, 1971
- ROGER GLEN REIDWarrant Officer 1 · March 31, 1971
- JAMES SALLEY JRMaster Sergeant · March 31, 1971
- GUY GENE SHANNON JRStaff Sergeant · March 31, 1971
Same unit, same day
- MICHAEL SHEA MCLHERNPrivate First Class · Panel 4W, Line 97
- HARRIS LEE WILLIAMSCorporal · Panel 4W, Line 98
From Winnie
- JOSEPH BERNILLE COMEAUXCorporal · August 24, 1967
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.