The Wall › Panel 39E › California › William Blakely
WILLIAM BLAKELY
Private First Class · U.S. Army
April 16, 1948 – February 14, 1968
Service recordWilliam Blakely, of Castro Valley, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 14, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 29
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- April 16, 1948
- Home of record
- Castro Valley, California (Alameda County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 39E, Line 29
- JOHN GEORGE BELLANGERLance Corporal · February 14, 1968
- LEONEL BUENTELLOStaff Sergeant · February 14, 1968
- FREDERICK WILLIAM BUNGARTZPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- CHARLES MORRIS BURKESpecialist Four · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- HAROLD L BEGODYSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 28
- RODOLFO DELEONPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 30
- LARRY WILBERT ELLIOTTSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 31
- ALBERT ALLEN TIPPETTSpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 40
From Castro Valley
- RICHARD LEE IANNICELLIPrivate First Class · June 23, 1966
- PAUL PHILLIP VANOVERLance Corporal · July 25, 1966
- GLENN DOUGLAS MOOREWarrant Officer 1 · February 8, 1968
- THAD BAZILY JESSIMANPrivate First Class · May 15, 1968
- GERALD THOMAS DUFFEYPrivate First Class · July 5, 1968
- PATRICK STEVEN LAIRDPrivate First Class · October 11, 1968
- STEVEN CRAIG CANRIGHTPrivate First Class · October 27, 1968
- EDWARD THEODORE PETERS JRPrivate First Class · April 7, 1969
- DON JAY MCATEESergeant · April 18, 1969
- LARRY HOUSTON COOKEStaff Sergeant · April 19, 1969
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.