The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967.
Soldiers of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade wait for a UH-1D during Operation Junction City, 1967. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of John James Willey.

The Wall › Panel 11W › California › John James Willey

JOHN JAMES WILLEY

Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army

October 21, 1950 – May 6, 1970

Service record

John James Willey, of West Covina, California, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 6, 1970, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 11W, Line 119 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 11W · Line 119

Position of Panel 11W 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
Staff Sergeant (SSG)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
October 21, 1950
Home of record
West Covina, California (Los Angeles County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 6, 1970
Age
19
Province
Quang Tri
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Grenade

Context · from the records

What was happening

59 names on the Wall carry the date May 6, 1970; 27 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In May 1970, 917 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 170 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 11W, Line 119

Same unit, same day

From West Covina

All 12 names from West Covina →

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.