The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Marines use an M48 tank as cover in the street fighting in Huế, 4 February 1968.
Marines use an M48 tank as cover in the street fighting in Huế, 4 February 1968. Photo: SSgt Jack L. Harlan, USMC, CC BY 2.0. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Henry Beckwith.

The Wall › Panel 43E › Minnesota › William Henry Beckwith

WILLIAM HENRY BECKWITH

Major · U.S. Marine Corps

August 6, 1936 – March 9, 1968

Service record

William Henry Beckwith, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, served as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 9, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 43E · Line 65

Position of Panel 43E 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

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Service

Branch
U.S. Marine Corps
Rank
Major (MAJ)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Infantry Officer (I) (0302)
Born
August 6, 1936
Home of record
Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hennepin County)

Casualty

Date of death
March 9, 1968
Age
31
Province
Quang Nam
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Explosive Device

Context · from the records

What was happening

45 names on the Wall carry the date March 9, 1968; ten of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

He died in Quảng Nam Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.

Also on Panel 43E, Line 65

From Minneapolis

All 193 names from Minneapolis →

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.