AV Wall Interesting Facts

When The AV Wall is on display, it is open 24/7 to the public and is free of charge.

Interesting Wall Facts

As of May, 2018: There are 58,318 names on The Wall

  1. Vietnam Era: 1 Nov 1955 – 15 May 1975 (by Congress in 1999)
  2. Names added since 1986 – 379 (as of 2018)
  3. At least one US Service member died in Vietnam every day from December 31, 1965 to December 9, 1970. A total of 1,804 days and 52,448 lives lost!
  4. There are 8 Females on the Wall all Nurses (7,484 Military women served in Vietnam, 6,250 were nurses.)
  5. There are 36 sets of Brothers on the Wall and 1 set of Step-Brothers
  6. There are 3 Fathers/Sons on the Wall
  7. There are 16 Chaplains on the Wall, 7 Catholic (2 Medal of Honor Recipients – MoH), 2 Jewish, 7 Protestant
  8. There are 10 Nurses on the Wall; 8 Female, 2 Male
  9. There are 1343 Army Medics on the Wall
  10. There are 691 Navy Corpsmen on the Wall
  11. There are 8 Coast Guard on the Wall
  12. Earliest to Die – Richard B Fitzgibbon Jr (52E, 021), 8-Jun-56
  13. Highest Casualty Day – 31-Jan-68: 246
  14. Highest Casualty Month – May-68: 2,416
  15. Highest Casualty Year – 1968: 16,916
  16. There are 76 Names on the Wall with ties to the Antelope Valley.
  17. MoH – 160 on Wall, Total for Vietnam 260
    1. Army – 174
    2. Marine – 57
    3. Navy – 15
    4. Air Force – 14
  18. Native Americans – 227
  19. Oldest on Memorial – Frank Luther Huddleston (16E, 109), 12-Aug-02, 68 yrs old (added in 2003)
  20. Oldest to Die (Inco) – Kenna Clyde Taylor (07W, 082), 21-Sep-70, 62 yrs old
  21. Youngest – Dan Bullock (23W, 096), 7-Jun-69, 15.5 years old, Born: 21-Dec-53
  22. 13 Soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.
  23. 3,135 Soldiers on the Wall were 18 years old.
  24. 8,341 Soldiers on the Wall were 19 years old.
  25. 40,394 Soldiers on the Wall were under 22 years old.
  26. At least one Soldier was killed as the result of an attack by an Indochinese tiger – Francis Baldino (39W, 063), 14-Nov-68, At about 2145 hours PFC Baldino was acting as his patrol’s RTO three paces behind the patrol leader when he was attacked and carried off, his body was recovered the next day.
  27. 234 KIA Battle of the Ia Drang Valley: 14/18-Nov-65; Panel 3W, Line 48-100
  28. Panel 1E covers period from 8-Jul 1959 thru 6-June 1965; Panel 1W covers 15-Apr 1972 thru 15-May 1975
  29. 9 years covered on 1E. Other 9 years – 139 Panels
  30. 1968 alone requires 74 of 140 panels – first 33E and last W35
  31. Chester Melvin Ovnand died 9-Jul-59; his name is the second on the Wall, Panel 1E, Line 001. It was later discovered that his last name was misspelled and wrong middle initial; Chester N Ovnard. To correct the error his name was re-engraved on Panel 7E, Line 046. Where it was discovered his middle initial was again wrong: Chester A Ovnand! There has been no indication that his name with all the correct information will be re-engraved again.
  32. All of the names on The Wall were read aloud – in chronological order – during dedication, on 10th (1992), 20th (2002), 25th (2007) and 30th (2012) anniversaries.
  33. Larry E Smith and Larry E Smith are next to each other on Panel 14E, Line 109
  34. There are five (5) Smith’s in a row on Panel 38E, Line 14
  35. Billie J Williams and Billie J Williams are next to each other on Panel 1W, Line 94; there is a Billy Joe Williams on Panel 11W, Line 119
  36. Some Interesting Names on the Wall:
    1. JACKIE FRANKENSTEIN Panel W59, Line 2
    2. ANDREW JACKSON Panel 43E,  Line 23
    3. RANDOLPH THOMAS JEFFERSON Panel W52, Line 44
    4. RONALD I Mc DONALD Panel W11, Line 3
    5. FRANCIS B MIDNIGHT Panel 25E, Line 34
    6. GEORGE PATTON Panel 22E, Line 47
    7. ARTHUR JOHN RAMBO Panel W16, Line 126
    8. ROY R ROGERS Panel 8E, Line 116
    9. KENNETH E SARGENT Panel 3E, Line 104
    10. WISELEE SMITH Panel 27E, Line 18
    11. SIM SMEDDLEY STEVERSON Panel 31E, Line 89
    12. ABRAHAM TRUJILLO-TRUJILLO Panel W36, Line 24
    13. JUAN P VALDEZ Panel 49E, Line 48 
    14. GEORGE R WASHINGTON Panel 35E, Line 36
    15. PENI UELI Panel 4E, Line 75

Click here to download a PDF of this list.

Click here to download a PDF of a more detailed list.