The Wall › Panel 39E › Texas › William Robert Reese
WILLIAM ROBERT REESE
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
December 1, 1943 – February 14, 1968
Service recordWilliam Robert Reese, of Abilene, Texas, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 14, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 38
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Second Lieutenant (2NDLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Officer (I) (0302)
- Unit (as recorded)
- K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV
- Born
- December 1, 1943
- Home of record
- Abilene, Texas (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV”, his unit in the record, lost 7 of its members that month.
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 39E, Line 38
- DAVID WAYNE PIPPINSpecialist Five · February 14, 1968
- JOHN WILLIAM PYLEStaff Sergeant · February 14, 1968
- BARRY LANE RIGSBYPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- GERALD WILLIAM ROBERTSONPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LOWELL THOMAS COMBSCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 30
- DENNIS K FLEMINGCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 32
- MELVIN LEWIS JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 34
- BARRY LANE RIGSBYPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 38
- DAVID FRANCIS SCHNEIDERCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 39
- JEFFREY RAYMOND WENTZELLLance Corporal · Panel 39E, Line 41
From Abilene
- EDGAR LEWIS PETERSON JRPrivate First Class · September 18, 1965
- RAYES CISNEROS FLORESPrivate First Class · October 30, 1965
- FRANCISCO HERRERASergeant · March 29, 1966
- GREG WEAVERPrivate First Class · May 26, 1966
- RONALD GENE MCBETHPrivate First Class · June 25, 1966
- HENRY HARRISON DELANOMaster Sergeant · July 22, 1966
- JACKIE BURL HALLPrivate First Class · November 8, 1966
- WILLIAM P YARBROUGH JRCommander · January 19, 1967
- RONALD JAMES DEXTERSergeant Major · June 3, 1967
- SAM TRINIDAD CURIELLance Corporal · September 6, 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.