The Wall › Panel 43W › Alabama › Willie Ray Lay
WILLIE RAY LAY
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 11, 1949 – September 22, 1968
Service recordWillie Ray Lay, of Fairhope, Alabama, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 22, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 43W, Line 64 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43W · Line 64
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 198 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- October 11, 1949
- Home of record
- Fairhope, Alabama (Baldwin County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 22, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date September 22, 1968; three of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In September 1968, 1,184 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 198th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 26 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 43W, Line 64
- RANDALL PATRICK LESSSergeant · September 22, 1968
- DAVID LOUIS LICATEPrivate First Class · September 22, 1968
- JOSEPH MARK MAZZONESpecialist Four · September 22, 1968
- WILLIAM LLOYD MCFARLANDPrivate First Class · September 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DEXTER BELLPrivate First Class · Panel 43W, Line 60
- STEVEN CARL GASSENFirst Lieutenant · Panel 43W, Line 62
- JOSEPH MARK MAZZONESpecialist Four · Panel 43W, Line 64
- NATHAN RAY SALESPrivate First Class · Panel 43W, Line 66
From Fairhope
- EDWARD MOSLEYTechnical Sergeant · October 15, 1967
- LONNIE ADKEN DILBECKPrivate First Class · January 1, 1969
- GLEN CAMERON KEENE JRPetty Officer Third Class · July 2, 1969
- ANDREW GEORGE HAWTHORNESpecialist Four · July 31, 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.