The Wall › Panel 42E › Georgia › Ray Houston Woods
RAY HOUSTON WOODS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
March 15, 1947 – March 3, 1968
Service recordRay Houston Woods, of Cedartown, Georgia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 3, 1968, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 59
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)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- March 15, 1947
- Home of record
- Cedartown, Georgia (Polk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 3, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Dinh Tuong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
65 names on the Wall carry the date March 3, 1968; he was the only one lost in Định Tường Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 101 of its members that month.
He died in Định Tường Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 42E, Line 59
- JOHN THOMAS WELSHANMajor · March 3, 1968
- JAMES EARL WILLIAMSCorporal · March 3, 1968
- RANDALL LEE YOUNGPetty Officer Third Class · March 3, 1968
- ROBERT WILLIAM ABERNATHYSpecialist Four · March 4, 1968
Same unit, same day
- HOWARD HERRELL ASHFORDSergeant · Panel 42E, Line 47
- ALBERT ROYCE DISMUKEFirst Lieutenant · Panel 42E, Line 50
- NORMAN ARCHIE FOSSETTCorporal · Panel 42E, Line 51
- HAROLD EDWARD REKAUPrivate First Class · Panel 42E, Line 56
From Cedartown
- JULIAN WAYNE COUCHPlatoon Sergeant · February 23, 1967
- FRANKLIN CLOVISPrivate First Class · February 8, 1968
- WILBURN EDWARD WESTERStaff Sergeant · February 17, 1968
- BRUCE SHERFIELD JRPrivate First Class · May 25, 1968
- RAY MCKIBBENSergeant · December 6, 1968
- LANNY LAMAR WESSONSergeant · December 19, 1968
- DON LARRY ATKINSCorporal · May 12, 1969
- EDWARD LEROY ROGERSSergeant First Class · December 23, 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.