The Wall › Panel 9W › Virginia › Buford Ronald Spencer
BUFORD RONALD SPENCER
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
May 23, 1949 – June 21, 1970
Service recordBuford Ronald Spencer, of Swords Creek, Virginia, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on June 21, 1970, in Cambodia, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 9W, Line 77 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9W · Line 77
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Combat Engineer (12B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 ARMORED CAV
- Born
- May 23, 1949
- Home of record
- Swords Creek, Virginia (Russell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 21, 1970
- Age
- 21
- Country
- Cambodia
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
Eight names on the Wall carry the date June 21, 1970. In June 1970, 560 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “11 ARMORED CAV”, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.
He died in Cambodia while the Cambodian incursion was under way. From 29 April to 30 June 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese base areas and supply caches; the announcement set off campus protests, including at Kent State.
Also on Panel 9W, Line 77
- LONNIE HAROLD WEISHEITCorporal · June 21, 1970
- MICHAEL STEPHEN BEZEGAStaff Sergeant · June 22, 1970
- MARK JOEL BUSHSergeant · June 22, 1970
- GEORGE CHAMBERS-QUIROZPrivate First Class · June 22, 1970
Same unit, same day
- BURDER SMITH ATHEY IIISpecialist Four · Panel 9W, Line 75
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.