The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967.
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Brian Patrick Russell.

The Wall › Panel 5W › New York › Brian Patrick Russell

BRIAN PATRICK RUSSELL

Sergeant · U.S. Army

September 8, 1949 – January 15, 1971

Service record

Brian Patrick Russell, of New York, New York, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 15, 1971, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 5W · Line 46

Position of Panel 5W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
5 INF DIV MECH
Born
September 8, 1949
Home of record
New York, New York (Kings County)

Casualty

Date of death
January 15, 1971
Age
21
Province
Quang Tri
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Explosive Device

Context · from the records

What was happening

14 names on the Wall carry the date January 15, 1971; five of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In January 1971, 259 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 16 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 5W, Line 46

Same unit, same day

From New York

All 1370 names from New York →

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.