The Wall › Panel 31W › Illinois › William Joseph Brencich
WILLIAM JOSEPH BRENCICH
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
May 16, 1948 – February 28, 1969
Service recordWilliam Joseph Brencich, of Crest Hill, Illinois, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 28, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 31W, Line 88 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 31W · Line 88
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- May 16, 1948
- Home of record
- Crest Hill, Illinois (Will County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
57 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1969; 12 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 31W, Line 88
- IRWIN BEYDASergeant · February 28, 1969
- DONALD LEE BLANKENSHIPMaster Sergeant · February 28, 1969
- CHARLES BROWNSpecialist Four · February 28, 1969
- ROBERT DARRELL CALHOUNLance Corporal · February 28, 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.