The Wall › Panel 4W › Michigan › William Thomas Walerzak
WILLIAM THOMAS WALERZAK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
June 25, 1949 – February 23, 1971
Service recordWilliam Thomas Walerzak, of Detroit, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 23, 1971, in Laos, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 1
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Born
- June 25, 1949
- Home of record
- Detroit, Michigan (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 23, 1971
- Age
- 21
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
26 names on the Wall carry the date February 23, 1971. In February 1971, 387 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Laos while Operation Lam Son 719 was under way. In Lam Son 719 (February–March 1971), South Vietnamese troops drove into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, carried and supported by U.S. helicopters and aircraft; more than 100 U.S. helicopters were lost.
Also on Panel 4W, Line 1
- GILBERT OLIVER RUFF JRPrivate First Class · February 23, 1971
- ROY YASUSHI SHINKAWAWarrant Officer 1 · February 23, 1971
- RICKEY ALLAN SLANDERAirman First Class · February 23, 1971
- TERRY MAXWELL USHERFirst Lieutenant · February 23, 1971
From Detroit
- SAMUEL EUGENE HURDAirman Third Class · January 3, 1964
- LEO BERT ABRAMOSKICaptain · July 28, 1964
- GEORGE PAUL ZUPANCICCorporal · June 26, 1965
- MARSHALL DANIEL HOLMANPrivate First Class · July 9, 1965
- ELIAS BELL JRCorporal · July 13, 1965
- ARTHUR F HAMMARSTROM JRLieutenant Colonel · July 24, 1965
- JAMES THOMAS CLARKPrivate · August 17, 1965
- BRUCE JAMES HENRICHPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- ROBERT TAGLIONESergeant · August 18, 1965
- MERRILL LAGENE LANTRYCorporal · September 2, 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.