The Wall › Panel 1W › Minnesota › William George Saarela
WILLIAM GEORGE SAARELA
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
April 26, 1938 – August 12, 1972
Service recordWilliam George Saarela, of Carlton, Minnesota, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on August 12, 1972, in Ba Xugen Province, South Vietnam, at age 34. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 64 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 64
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 First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Military Police (95B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- April 26, 1938
- Home of record
- Carlton, Minnesota (Carlton County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 12, 1972
- Age
- 34
- Province
- Ba Xugen
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date August 12, 1972; 13 of them were lost in Ba Xugen Province. In August 1972, 41 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 6 of its members that month.
He died in Ba Xugen Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 64
- MERRILL HOWARD MASINCaptain · August 12, 1972
- RAYMOND RICHARD REESEPetty Officer First Class · August 12, 1972
- DANIEL MARTIN RICHARDSSpecialist Five · August 12, 1972
- CHARLES PRICE ROBERTSCaptain · August 12, 1972
Same unit, same day
- EDWARD JAMES BRUESergeant First Class · Panel 1W, Line 63
- PHILIP HUGH STEVENSSergeant First Class · Panel 1W, Line 65
From Carlton
- ROBERT LEE GOADTechnical Sergeant · January 27, 1969
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.