The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Arthur Heep.

The Wall › Panel 46W › California › William Arthur Heep

WILLIAM ARTHUR HEEP

Lieutenant · U.S. Navy

July 6, 1942 – August 24, 1968

Service record

William Arthur Heep, of San Pedro, California, served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He died on August 24, 1968, in North Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 46W, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 46W · Line 2

Position of Panel 46W 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. Navy
Rank
Lieutenant (LT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Url Pilot (1310)
Unit (as recorded)
VE 143 USS CONSTELLATION CVA 63
Born
July 6, 1942
Home of record
San Pedro, California (Los Angeles County)

Casualty

Date of death
August 24, 1968
Age
26
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

56 names on the Wall carry the date August 24, 1968. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.

His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.

Also on Panel 46W, Line 2

From San Pedro

All 16 names from San Pedro →

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.