The Wall › Panel 17W › Florida › Willie Fred Cato
WILLIE FRED CATO
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
December 15, 1945 – October 13, 1969
Service recordWillie Fred Cato, of White Springs, Florida, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on October 13, 1969, in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 73 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 73
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 Five (SP5)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Utility Helicopter Repairer (67N)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- December 15, 1945
- Home of record
- White Springs, Florida (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 13, 1969
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Phuoc Tuy
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
19 names on the Wall carry the date October 13, 1969; four of them were lost in Phuoc Tuy Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 35 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 73
- JOHN KENNETH KRUEGERLance Corporal · May 8, 1969
- MICHAEL PETER DZIENGELSpecialist Five · October 13, 1969
- RONALD CHARLES EDWARDSLance Corporal · October 13, 1969
- THOMAS ALBERT FRITZER JRFirst Lieutenant · October 13, 1969
Same unit, same day
- RONALD CLEMENCE RUDOLPHChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 17W, Line 75
- JOHN MELVIN WHEELERCaptain · Panel 17W, Line 75
From White Springs
- BILLY ELWOOD REGISTERPrivate First Class · March 22, 1967
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.