The Wall › Panel 13W › North Carolina › William Ralph Graves JR

WILLIAM RALPH GRAVES JR

First Lieutenant · U.S. Army

October 18, 1946 – March 15, 1970

Service record

William Ralph Graves JR, of Murphy, North Carolina, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on March 15, 1970, in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 13W, Line 131 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 13W · Line 131

Position of Panel 13W 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.

See this name on the Wall

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.

Share a photo or memory Photos & remembrances on VVMF’s Wall of Faces ↗

Service

Branch: U.S. Army
Rank: First Lieutenant (1LT)
Service: Reserve / National Guard
Occupation: Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
Unit (as recorded): 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born: October 18, 1946
Home of record: Murphy, North Carolina (Cherokee County)

Casualty

Date of death: March 15, 1970
Age: 23
Province: Phuoc Long
Country: South Vietnam
Casualty type: Hostile
Category: Killed in Action
Circumstance: Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

21 names on the Wall carry the date March 15, 1970; three of them were lost in Phuoc Long Province. In March 1970, 625 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 78 of its members that month.

Read the history

On the Wall

Remembered on March 15

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 13W, Line 131

ALBERT WILLIAM HASLAMSpecialist Four · March 15, 1970
JAMES ALVIN HUGHESSpecialist Four · March 15, 1970
WILLMER ARDEN MATSONCorporal · March 15, 1970
PAUL ROBERT MORANChief Warrant Officer 2 · March 15, 1970

Same unit, same day

JAMES ALVIN HUGHESSpecialist Four · Panel 13W, Line 131
PAUL ROBERT MORANChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 13W, Line 131
ROBERT FRANCIS YOUNGChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 12W, Line 2

From Murphy

RAYMOND FARLEY TRANTHAMLance Corporal · May 19, 1968
THOMAS EDWARD BROWNPrivate First Class · November 25, 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.