The Wall › Panel 44E › North Carolina › William Smyly Williams JR
WILLIAM SMYLY WILLIAMS JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 11, 1947 – March 15, 1968
Service recordWilliam Smyly Williams JR, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 15, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 63 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 63
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- March 11, 1947
- Home of record
- Fayetteville, North Carolina (Cumberland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 15, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
42 names on the Wall carry the date March 15, 1968; eight of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 104 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 44E, Line 63
- CLARENCE HENRY LEWISCorporal · March 15, 1968
- EARNEST WILSONSergeant · March 15, 1968
- GERALD JAMES WINCHCaptain · March 15, 1968
- PAUL LEROY WOODARDStaff Sergeant · March 15, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RONALD ELMER JOHNSStaff Sergeant · Panel 44E, Line 59
- WALTER LEE MCCAHANLieutenant Colonel · Panel 44E, Line 61
- WALTER JOHN PANAMAROFFFirst Lieutenant · Panel 44E, Line 61
- HOWARD PALMA PETTYLieutenant Colonel · Panel 44E, Line 61
- ROBERT SMEALSergeant · Panel 44E, Line 62
From Fayetteville
- DEMPSEY H WILLIAMS IIIFirst Lieutenant · March 9, 1965
- CHARLIE GRAY LEWISSergeant First Class · May 17, 1967
- WILLIAM HORNERStaff Sergeant · July 10, 1965
- THOMAS CARL BRONSONPrivate First Class · August 31, 1965
- ERNEST HAYWARDMaster Sergeant · October 25, 1965
- WILLIAM ANDERSON SULLIVANSergeant · November 6, 1965
- DAVID JOSEPH UNDERHILLSeaman Apprentice · April 15, 1966
- JACK RAY PRICEPrivate First Class · June 11, 1966
- ALTON BERNARD MUNNPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- RALPH JOSEPH RENOMaster Sergeant · July 3, 1966
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.