The Wall › Panel 24W › New York › Bruce Saunders
BRUCE SAUNDERS
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Army
October 3, 1947 – May 15, 1969
Service recordBruce Saunders, of New York, New York, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 15, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 24W, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24W · Line 21
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
- Second Lieutenant (2LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 3, 1947
- Home of record
- New York, New York (Kings County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 15, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
50 names on the Wall carry the date May 15, 1969; seven of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Hamburger Hill was under way. On Đồng Ấp Bia (Hill 937) in the A Shau Valley (10–20 May 1969), the 101st Airborne Division attacked entrenched North Vietnamese troops for ten days; the soldiers called it “Hamburger Hill.” The heavy losses fed the debate at home over the war’s tactics. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 24W, Line 21
- HARRY DANIEL SARAKOVPrivate First Class · May 15, 1969
- JOHN LAVERN SCHULTZPrivate First Class · May 15, 1969
- WILLIAM HARRY SHULTZLance Corporal · May 15, 1969
- LARRY WAYNE SMITHSpecialist Four · May 15, 1969
Same unit, same day
- LUIS CARLOS BORREGO JRCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 14
- JEROME DAVID JORGENSONSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 17
- GEORGE ANDREW LAMOTHESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 17
- MICHAEL P LYDENSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 18
- FLOYD CHARLES NEVINSSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 19
- JOSEPH MICHAEL PRICESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 20
- CARL WILLIAM WALLSSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 23
From New York
- WALTER R MCCARTHY JRCaptain · June 16, 1962
- JOHN HOWARD MCCLEANCaptain · August 16, 1963
- DONALD ALLAN MOLLICONEFirst Lieutenant · December 20, 1963
- VINCENT JOSEPH HICKMANCaptain · January 14, 1964
- MARTIN STOCKFEDERPrivate First Class · July 15, 1964
- ROBERT GEORGE ARMSTRONGFirst Lieutenant · October 24, 1964
- DOMINICK SANSONESergeant First Class · December 10, 1964
- DONALD GILBERT COOKColonel · December 31, 1964
- TERENCE MEREDITH MURPHYLieutenant (junior grade) · April 9, 1965
- ROBERT CARL WISTRANDColonel · May 9, 1965
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.