The Wall › Panel 8W › Mississippi › Wilbert Ray Drane
WILBERT RAY DRANE
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 28, 1949 – July 12, 1970
Service recordWilbert Ray Drane, of Charleston, Mississippi, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on July 12, 1970, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 8W, Line 11 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8W · Line 11
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- November 28, 1949
- Home of record
- Charleston, Mississippi (Tallahatchie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 12, 1970
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
17 names on the Wall carry the date July 12, 1970; five of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In July 1970, 495 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 19 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 8W, Line 11
- HILBURN M BURDETTE JRSergeant · July 12, 1970
- TERRY PAUL BURKSpecialist Four · July 12, 1970
- MICHAEL EDWARD BURNSSpecialist Four · July 12, 1970
- MICHAEL ARMOND DEMASIFirst Lieutenant · July 12, 1970
Same unit, same day
- EDDIE D MAPESSpecialist Four · Panel 8W, Line 12
- JESUS CARLOS NUNEZPrivate First Class · Panel 8W, Line 12
- WILLIAM ARTHUR WICKSCorporal · Panel 8W, Line 13
From Charleston
- HORRIS GENE ROBINSONChief Petty Officer · February 23, 1968
- SPENCER SMITHPrivate First Class · February 15, 1970
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.