The Wall › Panel 36E › Minnesota › William Joseph Steffes
WILLIAM JOSEPH STEFFES
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
September 13, 1946 – January 31, 1968
Service recordWilliam Joseph Steffes, of St Cloud, Minnesota, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on January 31, 1968, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 39 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 39
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
- Specialist Five (SP5)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Personnel Specialist (71H)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- September 13, 1946
- Home of record
- St Cloud, Minnesota (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 34 of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 19 of its members that month.
He died in Bien Hoa 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 36E, Line 39
- PATRICK JOSEPH STRAYERStaff Sergeant · January 31, 1968
- GERALD DEWAYNE SULLIVANSergeant · January 31, 1968
- JOHNIE B THOMASSergeant · January 31, 1968
- BERNARD DAVID THOMPSON JRLieutenant Colonel · January 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT CHARLES BIEGELChief Warrant Officer 3 · Panel 35E, Line 87
- DAVID RICKEY CARSONSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 1
- MANUEL SOTO FLORESSpecialist Four · Panel 36E, Line 8
- DAVID RALPH WILSONFirst Lieutenant · Panel 36E, Line 43
From St Cloud
- MONTE THOMAS SLOANCaptain · December 10, 1966
- ALVIN GENE TENNISONSergeant · February 3, 1967
- DAVID C PAPESHPrivate First Class · March 3, 1967
- KENNETH MICHAEL SCHRAMELSpecialist Four · July 14, 1967
- DIRK JON WESTRASpecialist Four · July 4, 1968
- LARS PETER HUSTADFirst Lieutenant · April 5, 1969
- RONALD WILLIAM PANNOCorporal · August 17, 1969
- THOMAS LEE STRADTMANSpecialist Four · August 18, 1969
- GEORGE ALLEN GILLESPIECorporal · November 2, 1969
- DANIEL ROGER ZUTTERCorporal · December 6, 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.