The Wall › Panel 17W › Missouri › Michael Ray Sample
MICHAEL RAY SAMPLE
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 31, 1947 – October 20, 1969
Service recordMichael Ray Sample, of St Louis, Missouri, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 20, 1969, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 98 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 98
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)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- December 31, 1947
- Home of record
- St Louis, Missouri (St Louis (City) County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 20, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
32 names on the Wall carry the date October 20, 1969; three of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 46 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 98
- JOSE ESPIRIDION ORTIZPrivate First Class · October 20, 1969
- LARRY STERL POLINGPrivate First Class · October 20, 1969
- STANLEY DENNIS ROSSSpecialist Four · October 20, 1969
- ARNOLD RAYMOND SCHUHPrivate First Class · October 20, 1969
Same unit, same day
- JAMES EDWARD CONKRIGHTSergeant · Panel 17W, Line 94
- WILLIE LEE KEITHSpecialist Four · Panel 17W, Line 97
From St Louis
- EDDIE LOUIS SMITHStaff Sergeant · October 4, 1964
- GERALD ROBERT KEENEYSpecialist Five · December 28, 1964
- HAROLD DALE MEYERKORDLieutenant · March 16, 1965
- GEORGE CRAIG SMITHMajor · April 3, 1965
- TERRY WAYNE MILLSSpecialist Four · April 19, 1965
- DONNIE D EZELLStaff Sergeant · April 24, 1965
- RONALD JOHN WARRENStaff Sergeant · May 28, 1965
- DALE LEROY TOOLOOSEWarrant Officer 1 · September 2, 1965
- JOSEPH L TSCHAMBERSPrivate First Class · September 2, 1965
- ANTHONY ROY HARDIESpecialist Four · October 28, 1965
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.