The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter.
A 57th Medical Detachment crew loads a wounded soldier aboard a UH-1D “Dustoff” helicopter. Photo: SP4 James B. Egan, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Ray William Owen.

The Wall › Panel 59E › South Carolina › Ray William Owen

RAY WILLIAM OWEN

Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army

January 20, 1927 – May 13, 1968

Service record

Ray William Owen, of Columbia, South Carolina, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 13, 1968, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 41. His name is inscribed on Panel 59E, Line 27 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 59E · Line 27

Position of Panel 59E 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
Staff Sergeant (SSG)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Medical Specialist (91B)
Unit (as recorded)
25 INF DIV
Born
January 20, 1927
Home of record
Columbia, South Carolina (Richland County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 13, 1968
Age
41
Province
Tay Ninh
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

101 names on the Wall carry the date May 13, 1968; 26 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 236 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 59E, Line 27

Same unit, same day

From Columbia

All 68 names from Columbia →

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.