The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Donald Gene Hedgecock.

The Wall › Panel 16W › Illinois › Donald Gene Hedgecock

DONALD GENE HEDGECOCK

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

February 9, 1948 – November 6, 1969

Service record

Donald Gene Hedgecock, of Cahokia, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on November 6, 1969, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 16W · Line 38

Position of Panel 16W 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
Specialist Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Tactical Wire Operations Specialist (36K)
Unit (as recorded)
4 INF DIV
Born
February 9, 1948
Home of record
Cahokia, Illinois (St Clair County)

Casualty

Date of death
November 6, 1969
Age
21
Province
Pleiku
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Burns/Smoke Inhalation

Context · from the records

What was happening

26 names on the Wall carry the date November 6, 1969; ten of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 54 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 16W, Line 38

Same unit, same day

From Cahokia

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.