The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William Ray Christensen.

The Wall › Panel 34W › Illinois › William Ray Christensen

WILLIAM RAY CHRISTENSEN

Sergeant · U.S. Army

April 20, 1947 – January 19, 1969

Service record

William Ray Christensen, of Elgin, Illinois, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on January 19, 1969, in Dinh Tuong Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 34W, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 34W · Line 37

Position of Panel 34W 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.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
9 INF DIV
Born
April 20, 1947
Home of record
Elgin, Illinois (Multiple County)

Casualty

Date of death
January 19, 1969
Age
21
Province
Dinh Tuong
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Explosive Device

Context · from the records

What was happening

28 names on the Wall carry the date January 19, 1969; he was the only one lost in Định Tường Province that day. In January 1969, 985 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 114 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 34W, Line 37

From Elgin

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.