The Wall › Panel 40W › West Virginia › William Wayne Lester
WILLIAM WAYNE LESTER
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
October 3, 1947 – October 22, 1968
Service recordWilliam Wayne Lester, of Williamson, West Virginia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 22, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 40W, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40W · Line 21
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 3, 1947
- Home of record
- Williamson, West Virginia (Mingo County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 22, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
28 names on the Wall carry the date October 22, 1968; two of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In October 1968, 821 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 32 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 40W, Line 21
- BILLY KNIGHTStaff Sergeant · October 22, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES KORINEKPrivate First Class · October 22, 1968
- JAMES EDWARD MCCORKELLance Corporal · October 22, 1968
- DAVID WAYNE MURPHYFirst Lieutenant · October 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES MICHAEL HOLMESPrivate First Class · Panel 40W, Line 20
- FREDERICK G JACKSON JRStaff Sergeant · Panel 40W, Line 20
From Williamson
- LAWRENCE BUFORD PRATERSergeant · October 27, 1967
- RAYMOND HOWARD HIGHLEYPrivate First Class · December 11, 1968
- RELL CRIGGER JRCorporal · February 2, 1969
- WILLIAM EUGENE NULLPrivate First Class · February 23, 1969
- MARVIN BLAIR STUART JRSpecialist Four · July 24, 1971
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.