The Wall › Panel 17E › California › William Robert Petersen
WILLIAM ROBERT PETERSEN
Private First Class · U.S. Army
June 18, 1945 – March 31, 1967
Service recordWilliam Robert Petersen, of Garden Grove, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 31, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 17E, Line 80 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17E · Line 80
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- June 18, 1945
- Home of record
- Garden Grove, California (Orange County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
30 names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1967; 12 of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In March 1967, 1,091 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 35 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault of the war. 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 17E, Line 80
- RICHARD ALLEN MENEESSergeant · March 31, 1967
- PATRICK TIMOTHY MERCIERSpecialist Four · March 31, 1967
- JAMES RAYMOND MORGANPrivate First Class · March 31, 1967
- CHARLES RICHARD PUTNAMFirst Sergeant · March 31, 1967
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD ALFRED HILLFirst Lieutenant · Panel 17E, Line 79
- MICHAEL J LAURIEPrivate First Class · Panel 17E, Line 79
- PATRICK TIMOTHY MERCIERSpecialist Four · Panel 17E, Line 80
- JOE D STOWERSPrivate First Class · Panel 17E, Line 81
- THOMAS M HANNIGAN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 17E, Line 82
- CHARLES G H SUMMERSSergeant · Panel 17E, Line 82
- DELBERT CHAN TOTTYPlatoon Sergeant · Panel 17E, Line 82
From Garden Grove
- CARROLL MONROE BIERMAN JRCorporal · June 4, 1965
- ERNEST DARRELL MITCHELLPrivate First Class · July 20, 1966
- MICHAEL ROY NELSONSpecialist Four · April 9, 1967
- HARVEY RICHARD SANDERSCorporal · May 12, 1967
- JAMES PATRICK FITZSIMMONSLance Corporal · May 18, 1967
- JON ROY HONRATHPrivate First Class · August 17, 1967
- ALLAN GEORGE KALFASLance Corporal · September 2, 1967
- GARY LEE BARKERSergeant · October 17, 1967
- DENNIS REX ESTESPrivate First Class · November 25, 1967
- EDWARD COWART HUGHES IIISpecialist Four · November 27, 1967
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.