The Wall › Panel 10W › Georgia › William Ellis Gay JR
WILLIAM ELLIS GAY JR
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
May 21, 1945 – May 30, 1970
Service recordWilliam Ellis Gay JR, of Atlanta, Georgia, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 30, 1970, in Cambodia, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 10W, Line 121 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 10W · Line 121
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- May 21, 1945
- Home of record
- Atlanta, Georgia (Fulton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 30, 1970
- Age
- 25
- Country
- Cambodia
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
17 names on the Wall carry the date May 30, 1970. In May 1970, 917 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 80 of its members that month.
He died in Cambodia while the Cambodian incursion was under way. From 29 April to 30 June 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese base areas and supply caches; the announcement set off campus protests, including at Kent State.
Also on Panel 10W, Line 121
- RICHARD GUSTAVE HAILE JRSergeant · May 30, 1970
- STANLEY REGAN KIMMELSpecialist Four · May 30, 1970
- PATRICK EUGENE LAWLORCorporal · May 30, 1970
- KEN SWAIN MAXWELLSergeant · May 30, 1970
Same unit, same day
- FREDDY LAMAR BRATTONSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 119
- KEN SWAIN MAXWELLSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 121
- PATRICK ELSWOOD MCDANIELSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 122
- DAVID FRANK SANTA-CRUZCorporal · Panel 10W, Line 122
From Atlanta
- DAVID NIPPERLance Corporal · November 21, 1964
- JAMES ANTHONY COYAirman First Class · June 11, 1965
- JAMES THARPE BROWN JRPrivate First Class · June 25, 1965
- WESLIE DAVID MEWBORNPetty Officer First Class · September 8, 1964
- DOUGLAS HORACE LEACHSpecialist Four · November 15, 1965
- RONNIE THOMAS MATHISSergeant · November 17, 1965
- GEORGE S MCHELLONSpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- JAMES CARL WISE JRMajor · December 23, 1965
- CLIFFORD THOMAS JOHNSONPrivate · January 29, 1966
- HARVEY LEWIS BOWEN JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 1966
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.