The Wall › Panel 36E › District of Columbia › William Samuel Gordon
WILLIAM SAMUEL GORDON
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
February 24, 1949 – January 31, 1968
Service recordWilliam Samuel Gordon, of Washington, District of Columbia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on January 31, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 10 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 10
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- February 24, 1949
- Home of record
- Washington, District of Columbia (District Of Columbia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 28 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle 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 36E, Line 10
- CALLEN JAMES COURTEMANCHECorporal · January 31, 1968
- SERGIO JOHN GHERARDINISpecialist Four · January 31, 1968
- RICHARD ALAN GILLEYPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- AUBREY GOFF JRSergeant · January 31, 1968
From Washington
- HOMER CLEO MCINTYRE JRCaptain · July 28, 1964
- JAMES MARTIN CALEStaff Sergeant · May 16, 1965
- GEZA TEGLASSergeant · October 27, 1965
- LOUIS SHERRODSergeant · November 6, 1965
- LEROY HILLPlatoon Sergeant · November 8, 1965
- CALVIN BOUKNIGHTSpecialist Five · November 16, 1965
- PAUL EDWARD HURDLEStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- THEODORE M BEAMONSpecialist Four · November 23, 1965
- HARRY RONALD HOSKINSONSpecialist Four · December 13, 1965
- WILLIE MITCHELL JRAirman First Class · December 20, 1965
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.
