The Wall › Panel 17W › Illinois › Gary Allen Best
GARY ALLEN BEST
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
December 25, 1950 – October 28, 1969
Service recordGary Allen Best, of Decatur, Illinois, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on October 28, 1969, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 126 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 126
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Heavy Vehicle Driver (64B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- December 25, 1950
- Home of record
- Decatur, Illinois (Macon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 28, 1969
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date October 28, 1969; four of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 13 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 126
- CHARLES EVERETT BOXLERPrivate · October 28, 1969
- THOMAS EUGENE CAMPBELLCaptain · October 28, 1969
- TERRENCE CHARLES CONNOLLYCorporal · October 28, 1969
- CHUBBY DEAN LOWREYSpecialist Five · October 28, 1969
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES F GAMBLE JRSpecialist Four · Panel 17W, Line 127
- DONALD LEE NEELEYSpecialist Five · Panel 17W, Line 129
- BARRENT OTTO TORGERSONSpecialist Five · Panel 17W, Line 129
From Decatur
- ROGER HUGH MULLINSLieutenant Commander · February 17, 1960
- HERBERT J DEXTERMajor · September 18, 1965
- JAMES DARRELL WHITE JRPrivate First Class · January 29, 1966
- WILLIAM PATRICK FORANLance Corporal · March 1, 1966
- RONALD THOMAS SHELTONCaptain · April 10, 1966
- BRYAN B STOCKWELLPrivate First Class · September 20, 1966
- JOHN RUSSELL SMITHLance Corporal · October 5, 1966
- CARL GENE SMITHSpecialist Four · February 13, 1967
- STEPHEN RAY BANGERTLance Corporal · March 2, 1967
- JAMES THOMAS BRADSHAWPrivate First Class · March 18, 1967
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.