The Wall › Panel 3W › Illinois › Virgil Jay Bates JR
VIRGIL JAY BATES JR
Sergeant · U.S. Army
June 26, 1950 – August 23, 1971
Service recordVirgil Jay Bates JR, of Coal Valley, Illinois, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on August 23, 1971, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 3W, Line 128 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3W · Line 128
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- June 26, 1950
- Home of record
- Coal Valley, Illinois (Rock Island County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 23, 1971
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
Two names on the Wall carry the date August 23, 1971; he was the only one lost in Thừa Thiên Province that day. In August 1971, 116 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 18 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 3W, Line 128
- WILLIAM LEON LOGANChief Petty Officer · August 10, 1971
- NATHANIAL CARL MATTHEWSSpecialist Five · August 10, 1971
- WILLARD FRANCIS PAYNEStaff Sergeant · August 10, 1971
- PETER JOSEPH GAUVINPrivate · August 11, 1971
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.