The Wall › Panel 26W › Illinois › Samuel Alonzo Bessent
SAMUEL ALONZO BESSENT
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 25, 1949 – April 25, 1969
Service recordSamuel Alonzo Bessent, of Chicago, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on April 25, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 26W, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 26W · Line 46
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
- Armor Crewman (11E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 5 INF DIV MECH
- Born
- January 25, 1949
- Home of record
- Chicago, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 25, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
49 names on the Wall carry the date April 25, 1969; six of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In April 1969, 1,023 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 9 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 26W, Line 46
- CLAYBURN MCGEE HATCHERSpecialist Five · April 25, 1969
- EMERSON E HELLERLieutenant Colonel · April 25, 1969
- LARRY DEAN JOHNSONSergeant · April 25, 1969
- MICHAEL JOSEPH KELLY JRCorporal · April 25, 1969
Same unit, same day
- DAVID MICHAEL LACEYSpecialist Five · Panel 26W, Line 47
From Chicago
- MELVIN LESTER WATERSPrivate · February 10, 1965
- WILLIAM RALPH FUHRMANPetty Officer Third Class · April 23, 1965
- RAYMOND LEON HORNCorporal · May 1, 1965
- ARTHUR C JEPSON JRCaptain · May 16, 1965
- DONALD CLAY DEDMONStaff Sergeant · June 10, 1965
- ROGER PELIKANLance Corporal · July 17, 1965
- HARRY COHENTechnical Sergeant · July 19, 1969
- CURTIS LOCKHARTPrivate First Class · July 30, 1965
- EDWARD KOPECPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- JAMES LEO WHITELance Corporal · August 19, 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.