The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Joseph Ballinger.

The Wall › Panel 65W › Nebraska › William Joseph Ballinger

WILLIAM JOSEPH BALLINGER

Major · U.S. Army

July 6, 1935 – May 27, 1968

Service record

William Joseph Ballinger, of Bingham, Nebraska, served as a Major in the U.S. Army. He died on May 27, 1968, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 65W, Line 4 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 65W · Line 4

Position of Panel 65W 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. Army
Rank
Major (MAJ)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Air Observation Pilot (1981)
Unit (as recorded)
45 MED CO USARV
Born
July 6, 1935
Home of record
Bingham, Nebraska (Sheridan County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 27, 1968
Age
32
Province
Binh Long
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

78 names on the Wall carry the date May 27, 1968; five of them were lost in Binh Long Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “45 MED CO USARV”, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 65W, Line 4

Same unit, same day

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.