The Wall › Panel 5W › Texas › William Matthew Fernandez
WILLIAM MATTHEW FERNANDEZ
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
April 30, 1938 – February 19, 1971
Service recordWilliam Matthew Fernandez, of Houston, Texas, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 19, 1971, in Laos, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 119 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5W · Line 119
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- April 30, 1938
- Home of record
- Houston, Texas (Harris County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 19, 1971
- Age
- 32
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
16 names on the Wall carry the date February 19, 1971. In February 1971, 387 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while Operation Lam Son 719 was under way. In Lam Son 719 (February–March 1971), South Vietnamese troops drove into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, carried and supported by U.S. helicopters and aircraft; more than 100 U.S. helicopters were lost.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 5W, Line 119
- RONALD LEONARD WATSONCaptain · February 18, 1971
- STRATHER FRANKLIN WOODFirst Lieutenant · February 18, 1971
- GERALD ERNEST WOODSWarrant Officer 1 · February 18, 1971
- JACKIE WAYNE BARNWELLMaster Sergeant · February 19, 1971
From Houston
- JOSEPH MICHAEL FAHEY JRCaptain · February 11, 1962
- JOHN F SHAUGHNESSY JRCaptain · February 3, 1963
- RICHARD DALE HILLAirman Second Class · December 6, 1963
- HUGHIE DARELL ADAMSMajor · January 7, 1964
- ALBERT LAWRENCE SHIMEKPrivate First Class · April 10, 1964
- BYRON CLARK STONECaptain · August 20, 1964
- JAMES EDWARD HAVEMANNWarrant Officer 1 · October 7, 1964
- ROBERT GRAHAM BELLMajor · May 16, 1965
- LEROY ANTHONY BOURGEOISPrivate First Class · June 18, 1965
- ROBERT FILMORE BATSONSergeant · August 18, 1965
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.