The Wall › Panel 34E › Pennsylvania › William David Port
WILLIAM DAVID PORT
Sergeant · U.S. Army
October 31, 1941 – January 12, 1968
Medal of Honor StoryPortrait: Arlington National Cemetery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
William David Port, of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was lost on January 12, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 34E, Line 39 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Medal of Honor · awarded posthumously
For conspicuous gallantry
William David Port received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his actions on January 12, 1968.
Citation text as reproduced in Wikipedia’s article on William David Port; Medal of Honor citations are official U.S. government records. See also the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and all Medal of Honor recipients on the Wall.
On the Wall
Panel 34E · Line 39
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
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- October 31, 1941
- Home of record
- Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (Lancaster County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 12, 1968
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- First reported
- Captured / prisoner of war
Context · from the records
What was happening
34 names on the Wall carry the date January 12, 1968; six of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 110 of its members that month.
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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 34E, Line 39
- PAUL FRANCIS QUILLLance Corporal · January 12, 1968
- MAX RAY SPANGLERSpecialist Four · January 12, 1968
- DARRY RICHARD STRAUSSERCorporal · January 12, 1968
- JULIUS THOMASCorporal · January 12, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOHN ELDREW BARRONCorporal · Panel 34E, Line 33
- LEE ROGER DANIELSONSergeant · Panel 34E, Line 35
- ROY WILLIAM EDWARDSPlatoon Sergeant · Panel 34E, Line 35
- JAMES CASTALDICorporal · Panel 34E, Line 38
- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MCCLARYStaff Sergeant · Panel 34E, Line 38
- MAX RAY SPANGLERSpecialist Four · Panel 34E, Line 39
From Elizabethtown
- FREDERICK JAY SCHWANGERCorporal · June 26, 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. The Medal of Honor citation above is the official account of his actions. See something wrong? Report a correction.