The Wall › Panel 16W › Illinois › Elmer Matthew Shields
ELMER MATTHEW SHIELDS
Private First Class · U.S. Army
February 15, 1949 – November 4, 1969
Service recordElmer Matthew Shields, of Gorham, Illinois, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 4, 1969, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 32 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 32
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- February 15, 1949
- Home of record
- Gorham, Illinois (Jackson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 4, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
36 names on the Wall carry the date November 4, 1969; he was the only one lost in Pleiku Province that day. 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 32
- WILLIAM DOUGLAS SMITHCaptain · November 4, 1969
- BENNIE VORICE STEPHENS JRPrivate First Class · November 4, 1969
- JOHN DOUGLAS THRASHERSpecialist Four · November 4, 1969
- JOHN ALAN WAREStaff Sergeant · November 4, 1969
Same unit, same day
- KENNETH ARNOLD GROVESergeant · Panel 16W, Line 28
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.