The Wall › Panel 42E › Alabama › William Oliver Turner
WILLIAM OLIVER TURNER
Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
July 25, 1946 – February 28, 1968
Service recordWilliam Oliver Turner, of Phenix City, Alabama, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 28, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 1
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Engineer Equipment Mechanic (1341)
- Unit (as recorded)
- HS CO 3 SHOR PT 3 MARDIV
- Born
- July 25, 1946
- Home of record
- Phenix City, Alabama (Russell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
91 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1968; 29 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. 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 42E, Line 1
- GENE CALVIN REIDSpecialist Four · February 28, 1968
- JOHN ALFRED THOTLANDLance Corporal · February 28, 1968
- JIMMIE LESTER TODDMaster Sergeant · February 28, 1968
- WALTER WILBER VAILTechnical Sergeant · February 28, 1968
- ROBERT EARL WESLEYStaff Sergeant · February 28, 1968
From Phenix City
- UDON PARKERSpecialist Four · March 13, 1966
- LEO CHESTER DIXONPrivate First Class · August 25, 1966
- EDDIE DONALD PEOPLESPrivate First Class · November 15, 1966
- ROBBIE RAY MILLSSpecialist Five · February 15, 1967
- DAVID TOMIE BELLSpecialist Four · February 26, 1967
- CHARLIE BERNARD INGRAM JRSpecialist Four · March 4, 1967
- LARRY RAY MCDUFFIEPrivate First Class · October 22, 1967
- JOHN HENRY JONES JRPrivate First Class · January 30, 1968
- JOE LOUIS JONESSergeant · February 18, 1968
- JACOB BENNETTPrivate First Class · July 17, 1968
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.