The Wall › Panel 17W › Colorado › John Wilbur Saunders JR
JOHN WILBUR SAUNDERS JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
December 5, 1947 – September 24, 1969
Service recordJohn Wilbur Saunders JR, of Cortez, Colorado, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 24, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 5
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- December 5, 1947
- Home of record
- Cortez, Colorado (Montezuma County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 24, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
20 names on the Wall carry the date September 24, 1969; five of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 48 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 5
- KENNETH DAVID COSTANZAPrivate First Class · September 24, 1969
- THOMAS FREDERICK LAWLERSergeant · September 24, 1969
- BOBBY DALE SCHEUERPrivate First Class · September 24, 1969
- DONALD EUGENE SCOTTPrivate First Class · September 24, 1969
Same unit, same day
- GREGG LAWRENCE COCHRANEPrivate First Class · Panel 17W, Line 3
- JAMES EDWARD CROSBYPrivate First Class · Panel 17W, Line 4
From Cortez
- EDWARD LEE GARCIASpecialist Four · March 3, 1969
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.