The Wall › Panel 13E › South Carolina › William Ralph Lawless JR
WILLIAM RALPH LAWLESS JR
Sergeant · U.S. Army
April 10, 1946 – January 8, 1967
Service recordWilliam Ralph Lawless JR, of Pelzer, South Carolina, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 8, 1967, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 13E, Line 127 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 13E · Line 127
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- April 10, 1946
- Home of record
- Pelzer, South Carolina (Anderson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 8, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
24 names on the Wall carry the date January 8, 1967; 11 of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In January 1967, 638 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 79 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while Operation Cedar Falls was under way. Operation Cedar Falls (8–26 January 1967) sent some 30,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops into the “Iron Triangle” northwest of Saigon to destroy Viet Cong base areas and tunnels. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 13E, Line 127
- ARNEZ FRANKLIN MILLER JRPrivate First Class · January 8, 1967
- RICHARD A PIERCESpecialist Four · January 8, 1967
- HUBERT J PURIFOYSergeant · January 8, 1967
- CARLOS MARIO RODRIGUEZSpecialist Four · January 8, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JOHN WESLEY DAHRSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 125
- LYNN ARDEN HARRISSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 125
- JAMES E PAYTONSergeant · Panel 13E, Line 126
- ARNEZ FRANKLIN MILLER JRPrivate First Class · Panel 13E, Line 127
- RICHARD A PIERCESpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 127
- HUBERT J PURIFOYSergeant · Panel 13E, Line 127
- CARLOS MARIO RODRIGUEZSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 127
- KENNETH R SCHROMPrivate First Class · Panel 13E, Line 128
- DAVID LAWRENCE SHEEHYPrivate First Class · Panel 13E, Line 128
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.