The Wall › Panel 16W › California › William Theodore Brown
WILLIAM THEODORE BROWN
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
February 20, 1945 – November 3, 1969
Service recordWilliam Theodore Brown, of La Habra, California, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He was lost on November 3, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 22 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 22
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- SPECIAL FORCES
- Born
- February 20, 1945
- Home of record
- La Habra, California (Orange County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- November 3, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date November 3, 1969. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Special Forces, his unit in the record, lost 11 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 16W, Line 22
- JOEL ARNOLD BALCOMPetty Officer Third Class · November 3, 1969
- JAMES ELSON BUCHANANStaff Sergeant · November 3, 1969
- FLOYD JOSEPH CRAIGMYLECorporal · November 3, 1969
- FRANKLIN THEODORE JAMESSecond Lieutenant · November 3, 1969
Same unit, same day
- DONALD MONROE SHUESergeant First Class · Panel 16W, Line 24
- GUNTHER HERBERT WALDSergeant First Class · Panel 16W, Line 25
From La Habra
- DAVID DEE GUMMERESergeant · April 29, 1966
- PETER FREDERICK CHERNEYLieutenant · February 2, 1968
- EDWARD ANDREW GILLASPYPrivate First Class · May 9, 1968
- STEPHEN DOUGLAS JOYNERFirst Lieutenant · June 15, 1968
- ROSS MCCLLELAN PRESTONPrivate First Class · June 20, 1968
- HENRY CLAY KNIGHTChief Warrant Officer 2 · October 20, 1968
- RALPH THOMAS SANDPrivate First Class · April 4, 1969
- JONATHAN WAYNE ALLMANPrivate First Class · April 21, 1969
- DAVID TERRELL HOWARDPrivate First Class · June 5, 1969
- STEVEN LYNN CATINOCorporal · February 10, 1970
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.