The Wall › Panel 24W › Florida › Willie Lee Kirkland
WILLIE LEE KIRKLAND
Sergeant · U.S. Army
July 24, 1948 – May 18, 1969
Service recordWillie Lee Kirkland, of Avon Park, Florida, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 18, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 24W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24W · Line 44
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Medical Equipment Repairer (91A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- July 24, 1948
- Home of record
- Avon Park, Florida (Highlands County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 18, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
81 names on the Wall carry the date May 18, 1969; 29 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Hamburger Hill was under way. On Đồng Ấp Bia (Hill 937) in the A Shau Valley (10–20 May 1969), the 101st Airborne Division attacked entrenched North Vietnamese troops for ten days; the soldiers called it “Hamburger Hill.” The heavy losses fed the debate at home over the war’s tactics. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 24W, Line 44
- JOHN JOSEPH LASKOWSKISpecialist Five · May 18, 1969
- BIRDEN JEROME LAWSONCorporal · May 18, 1969
- THOMAS DELANO LIPSCOMBFirst Lieutenant · May 18, 1969
- KENNETH EUGENE LOCKHARTStaff Sergeant · May 18, 1969
Same unit, same day
- PAUL GEORGE BELLINOCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 36
- LINCOLN E BUNDYSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 37
- GREGORY DOUGLAS CORNETTSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 38
- RALPH JOEL CRUTTSSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 38
- CHARLES JOSEPH CUDLIKESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 39
- THOMAS JOSEPH DEMARINISCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 39
- JAMES ALBERT DIMOCK JRFirst Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 39
- DAVID GARTH FINNEGANSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 40
- JAMES ROCCO FIUMECorporal · Panel 24W, Line 40
- PAUL HUNTINGTON GANUNCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 41
- HAROLD C HEDDEN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 42
- LEONARD MARTIN HICKSONSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 42
- RUSSELL LANE JETTSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 43
- BIRDEN JEROME LAWSONCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 44
- THOMAS DELANO LIPSCOMBFirst Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 44
- JERRY MICHAEL LOVELLSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 45
- DONALD JOSEPH MALICEKCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 45
- HANS LOTHAR MILLSSpecialist Five · Panel 24W, Line 45
- MIGUEL ORTEGA MORENOSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 45
- BOBBY GENE NEWBYCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 46
- WILLIAM J PETERSONSecond Lieutenant · Panel 24W, Line 47
- JORDY JOSEPH PITRESpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 48
- JOHN CHARLES PAPECaptain · Panel 24W, Line 49
- RUDOLPH ROSSIPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 49
From Avon Park
- ARCHIE SHERROD BOWENAirman Second Class · August 30, 1963
- EDWARD EUGENE CANNONPrivate First Class · March 30, 1967
- CURTIS EDGAR COTHRANSpecialist Four · September 8, 1967
- JIMMIE WAYNE GREENSergeant · October 13, 1967
- WILLIAM GEORGE BATTSCorporal · September 2, 1969
- ROY WILLIAM COBBSergeant First Class · February 13, 1970
- LOWELL VERNON FERGUSON JRSergeant · April 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.