The Wall › Panel 2W › Michigan › Gerald Frank Vilas
GERALD FRANK VILAS
Warrant Officer 1 · U.S. Army
August 16, 1949 – September 19, 1971
Service recordGerald Frank Vilas, of Yale, Michigan, served as a Warrant Officer 1 in the U.S. Army. He died on September 19, 1971, in Kien Giang Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2W · Line 20
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
- Warrant Officer 1 (WO1)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot (100B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- August 16, 1949
- Home of record
- Yale, Michigan (St Clair County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 19, 1971
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Kien Giang
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date September 19, 1971; three of them were lost in Kien Giang Province. In September 1971, 127 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 20 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 2W, Line 20
- LYNN JONESSpecialist Five · September 19, 1971
- FREDRICK ANTHONY THACKERSpecialist Five · September 19, 1971
- RUEBEN THOMAS ARAGONSpecialist Four · September 20, 1971
- ARNOLD WINFIELD BARDEN JRLieutenant (junior grade) · September 20, 1971
Same unit, same day
- LYNN JONESSpecialist Five · Panel 2W, Line 20
- FREDRICK ANTHONY THACKERSpecialist Five · Panel 2W, Line 20
From Yale
- GORDON J GRAHAMPrivate First Class · October 25, 1967
- ROBERT LEROY WELCHLance Corporal · July 3, 1970
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.