The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967.
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967. Photo: PFC Franklin G. Nickerson, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Michael Lynn Biles.

The Wall › Panel 16W › Arizona › Michael Lynn Biles

MICHAEL LYNN BILES

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

December 2, 1946 – November 16, 1969

Service record

Michael Lynn Biles, of Phoenix, Arizona, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on November 16, 1969, in Kien Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 16W · Line 83

Position of Panel 16W 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
Specialist Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
Unit (as recorded)
1 AVN BDE
Born
December 2, 1946
Home of record
Phoenix, Arizona (Maricopa County)

Casualty

Date of death
November 16, 1969
Age
22
Province
Kien Tuong
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

15 names on the Wall carry the date November 16, 1969; he was the only one lost in Kien Tuong Province that day. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 52 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 16W, Line 83

From Phoenix

All 207 names from Phoenix →

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.