The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
An AC-47D “Spooky” gunship fires on a target at night over South Vietnam.
An AC-47D “Spooky” gunship fires on a target at night over South Vietnam. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Donald Hicks.

The Wall › Panel 1E › Pennsylvania › William Donald Hicks

WILLIAM DONALD HICKS

Senior Master Sergeant · U.S. Air Force

November 29, 1929 – May 16, 1965

Service record

William Donald Hicks, of Smock, Pennsylvania, served as a Senior Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He died on May 16, 1965, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 35. His name is inscribed on Panel 1E, Line 118 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 1E · Line 118

Position of Panel 1E 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.

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Service

Branch
U.S. Air Force
Rank
Senior Master Sergeant (SMSGT)
Service
Regular
Born
November 29, 1929
Home of record
Smock, Pennsylvania (Fayette County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 16, 1965
Age
35
Province
Bien Hoa
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Other Accident

Context · from the records

What was happening

27 names on the Wall carry the date May 16, 1965; 26 of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In May 1965, 89 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

Read the history

On the Wall

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 1E, Line 118

From Smock

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.