The Wall › Panel 9E › Massachusetts › William Francis Coakley
WILLIAM FRANCIS COAKLEY
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
August 12, 1933 – September 13, 1966
Service recordWilliam Francis Coakley, of Lenox, Massachusetts, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on September 13, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 33. His name is inscribed on Panel 9E, Line 132 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9E · Line 132
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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Born
- August 12, 1933
- Home of record
- Lenox, Massachusetts (Berkshire County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 13, 1966
- Age
- 33
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
24 names on the Wall carry the date September 13, 1966. In September 1966, 533 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 9E, Line 132
- JOHN DONALD WYSZOMIRSKIStaff Sergeant · August 12, 1966
- DAVID RONALD DEVERS SRCaptain · August 13, 1966
- GILBERT FERRANTECorporal · August 13, 1966
- KENT ELLSWORTH GANDYMajor · August 13, 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.