The Wall › Panel 15W › Virginia › Clarence Melvin Gatewood
CLARENCE MELVIN GATEWOOD
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 29, 1948 – December 3, 1969
Service recordClarence Melvin Gatewood, of Woodford, Virginia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on December 3, 1969, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 15W, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 15W · 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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Field Artillery Basic (13A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- January 29, 1948
- Home of record
- Woodford, Virginia (Caroline County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 3, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
13 names on the Wall carry the date December 3, 1969; he was the only one lost in Tây Ninh Province that day. In December 1969, 509 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 23 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 15W, Line 21
- EYKEL MARTIN D VANDEN IIChief Warrant Officer 3 · December 2, 1969
- FRAZIER THOMAS DIXONSpecialist Four · December 3, 1969
- JOHN HARVEY FREYSecond Lieutenant · December 3, 1969
- CARL BRUCE RAYPrivate First Class · December 3, 1969
Same unit, same day
- ROGER LEE HUNDTSergeant · Panel 15W, Line 22
- MICHAEL WAYNE PRENGELSpecialist Four · Panel 15W, Line 22
From Woodford
- WALTER LEE SMITHPrivate First Class · August 29, 1966
- THOMAS MILTON GOULDINCorporal · November 18, 1969
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.