The Wall › Panel 44E › Wisconsin › William James Hondel
WILLIAM JAMES HONDEL
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Army
August 27, 1940 – March 13, 1968
Service recordWilliam James Hondel, of West Allis, Wisconsin, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 13, 1968, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 27. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 37
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
- Second Lieutenant (2LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Portable Bridge Unit Commander (1342)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 509 ENG CO 937 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE
- Born
- August 27, 1940
- Home of record
- West Allis, Wisconsin (Milwaukee County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 13, 1968
- Age
- 27
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
57 names on the Wall carry the date March 13, 1968; 14 of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “509 ENG CO 937 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
He died in Pleiku 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 44E, Line 37
- LEWIS MORRISON HAYWARDPrivate First Class · March 13, 1968
- RUSSELL EDWARD HUPEPrivate · March 13, 1968
- KOSMAS PETER KAPETANOPOULOSFirst Lieutenant · March 13, 1968
- GLEN HERBERT MOSLEY JRSpecialist Four · March 13, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM EDWARD DEANPrivate First Class · Panel 44E, Line 34
- RAYMOND PAUL DOBRZYNSKISpecialist Four · Panel 44E, Line 35
- LARRY DEE SHERMANSpecialist Four · Panel 44E, Line 41
From West Allis
- ROBERT GRESKOWIAKCaptain · May 15, 1965
- DUNCAN FREDERICK KRUEGERPrivate First Class · November 17, 1965
- WILLIAM TAMM ARNOLDLieutenant Commander · November 18, 1966
- THOMAS LAWRENCE MEIDAMSpecialist Four · August 4, 1967
- DELFERD BENJAMIN DUNIFERSpecialist Four · February 2, 1968
- RICHARD BURBACHFirst Lieutenant · February 7, 1968
- STANLEY FRANK URBASSpecialist Four · January 26, 1969
- WILLIAM DONALD BAKKENPrivate First Class · February 12, 1969
- JOHN ALLEN BUSCHKESergeant · February 23, 1969
- GREGORY ALLEN HEINRICHPrivate First Class · May 4, 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.