The Wall › Panel 16W › Indiana › Merlin Gail Beer
MERLIN GAIL BEER
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 17, 1949 – November 11, 1969
Service recordMerlin Gail Beer, of Geneva, Indiana, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on November 11, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 57 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 57
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 Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- January 17, 1949
- Home of record
- Geneva, Indiana (Adams County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 11, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date November 11, 1969; he was the only one lost in Bình Dương Province that day. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 41 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 16W, Line 57
- JOHN KENNETH FOWLERPrivate First Class · November 11, 1969
- CARL FRANKLIN GOACHERCorporal · November 11, 1969
- JOHN DANIEL HARRINGTONPrivate First Class · November 11, 1969
- JAMES ARTHUR JACKSONLance Corporal · November 11, 1969
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM ALFRED BLACKBURNSergeant First Class · Panel 16W, Line 56
- CLEATUS PAUL KIMBLESpecialist Five · Panel 16W, Line 58
From Geneva
- BOYCE DEAN PHILLIPSSpecialist Four · April 5, 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.