The Wall › Panel 45E › Tennessee › David Wayne Derry
DAVID WAYNE DERRY
Private First Class · U.S. Army
June 13, 1949 – March 22, 1968
Service recordDavid Wayne Derry, of Memphis, Tennessee, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 22, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 55 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 55
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- June 13, 1949
- Home of record
- Memphis, Tennessee (Shelby County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 22, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 22, 1968; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 188 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 45E, Line 55
- WALTER JACOB EGGERCaptain · March 22, 1968
- FRED C H FRAPPIEA JRPrivate First Class · March 22, 1968
- WORDELL GAINESPrivate First Class · March 22, 1968
- LARRIE JACK GOTCHERSpecialist Four · March 22, 1968
From Memphis
- JESSE ALEXANDER GRAYSergeant First Class · June 12, 1964
- ANDREW DAYTON PARKER JRMajor · June 18, 1965
- JOHN CARLOS HARRISSergeant · July 21, 1965
- WALTER LEWIS SMITHPrivate First Class · August 19, 1965
- CLAUDE TALBERT JRPrivate First Class · October 8, 1965
- WILLIAM CLYDE HARPERSergeant · October 10, 1965
- DANIEL DAVID HARDENSergeant · November 1, 1965
- RANDLE TOM WOODSLance Corporal · November 6, 1965
- KELLY EUGENE WHITAKERPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- MELVIN FRANK FORTSpecialist Four · November 17, 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.