The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967.
UH-1 helicopters of the 1st Cavalry Division skim the coastline near Chu Lai, October 1967. Photo: PFC Franklin G. Nickerson, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Earl McDonald JR.

The Wall › Panel 36W › Pennsylvania › William Earl McDonald JR

WILLIAM EARL MCDONALD JR

Major · U.S. Army

June 27, 1935 – December 28, 1968

Service record

William Earl McDonald JR, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, served as a Major in the U.S. Army. He died on December 28, 1968, in Darlac Province, South Vietnam, at age 33. His name is inscribed on Panel 36W, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 36W · Line 85

Position of Panel 36W 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

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
Major (MAJ)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Aircraft Maintenance Officer (4823)
Unit (as recorded)
1 AVN BDE
Born
June 27, 1935
Home of record
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 28, 1968
Age
33
Province
Darlac
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

27 names on the Wall carry the date December 28, 1968; five of them were lost in Darlac Province. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 36W, Line 85

Same unit, same day

From Pittsburgh

All 256 names from Pittsburgh →

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.