The Wall › Panel 35W › Minnesota › William Sylvester Deboer
WILLIAM SYLVESTER DEBOER
First Lieutenant · U.S. Army
January 6, 1947 – December 29, 1968
Service recordWilliam Sylvester Deboer, of Ray, Minnesota, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on December 29, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 35W, Line 7 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 35W · Line 7
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
- First Lieutenant (1LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- January 6, 1947
- Home of record
- Ray, Minnesota (Koochiching County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 29, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1968; two of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 106 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 35W, Line 7
- HENRY JAMES WILLIAM TEWSChief Warrant Officer 2 · December 29, 1968
- FARL DUANE WAGNERSergeant · December 29, 1968
- GEORGE LEROY BAILEYSpecialist Five · December 30, 1968
- WALTER CURTIS BLACK JRCorporal · December 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LEONARD EDWARD BRADFORDCorporal · Panel 35W, Line 2
- JAMES IRVING CUTLERSergeant · Panel 35W, Line 3
- JOSEPH EDWARD STRAWBRIDGESpecialist Four · Panel 35W, Line 3
- DAN NINKEY JAMESSpecialist Four · Panel 35W, Line 4
- FARL DUANE WAGNERSergeant · Panel 35W, Line 7
From Ray
- DOUGLAS THOMAS MANKAFireman Apprentice · November 14, 1972
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.