When The AV Wall is on display, it is open 24/7 to the public and is free of charge.
Interesting Wall Facts
1. Vietnam Era: 1 Nov 1955-15 May 1975 (by Congress in 1999)
2. As of 2019: 375 Names added since 1982
3. Number of casualties on The Wall: 58,276
4. 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!
5. There are 8 females on the Wall, all nurses (7,484 Military women served in Vietnam; 6,250 were nurses)
6. There are 40 sets of brothers on the Wall
7. One set of step-brothers on the Wall
8. There are 3 fathers/sons on the Wall
9. There are 16 chaplains on the Wall, 7 Catholic (2 Medal of Honor recipients), 2 Jewish, 7 Protestant
10. There are 10 nurses on the Wall; 8 female, 2 male
11. There are 1345 Army medics on the Wall
12. There are 691 Navy corpsmen on the Wall
13. There are 8 Coast Guard on the Wall
14. There are 21 different countries represented on the Wall
15. There are 57 Canadians on the Wall
16. Earliest to die: Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr (52E, 021), 8 Jun 56
17. First name on Panel 01E – Dale Richard Buis (01E, 001), 8-Jul-59
18. There are 13 Flag Officers on the Wall
19. Highest Casualty Day: 31 Jan 68, 246 casualties
20. Highest Casualty Month: May-68, 2,416 casualties
21. Highest Casualty Year: 1968, 16,916 casualties
22. Peak US Inco Troop Strength: 30 Apr 69, 543,482 troops
23. There are 76 names on the Wall with ties to the Antelope Valley
24. MoH: 160 (159 from Vietnam, 1 from WWII) on the Wall. (Average age of MoH on the Wall: 24), total for Vietnam 261
25. Estimated 32 men were mistakenly listed on The Wall at dedication that were still alive. These names are not listed in the directories, but are in the total count.
26. Native Americans: 227
27. Most interesting Native American name: Frank W JEALOUS-OF-HIM, Panel W22, Line 2
28. Oldest on Memorial: Frank Luther Huddleston (16E, 109), 12 Aug 02, 68 yrs old (added in 2003)
29. Youngest to die (Inco): Dan Bullock (W23, 096), 7 Jun 69, 15.5 years old, born 21 Dec 53
30. 40,361 soldiers on the Wall were under 22 years old
31. At least one soldier was killed as the result of an attack by an Indochinese tiger: Francis Baldino (W39, 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.
32. Top Five Most Common Names
a. Smith: 662
b. Johnson: 525
c. Williams: 402
d. Brown: 381
e. Jones: 346
33. Unknown Soldier: Michael Joseph Blassie (W01, 023), 11 May 72, interred as Unknown in 1984, reburied 11 Jul 98 in St. Louis, MO. Awarded the MoH while interred as the Unknown, but MoH was rescinded when identified, not part of the 261. There are no remains in the Vietnam Tomb for the Unknown Soldier.
34. Longest name: Rodrigo Velazquez-Feliciano, Jr., Panel 42E, Line 55
35. Shortest names: Ben Coy, Panel 22E, Line 24 and Ned Lee, Panel 38E, Line 29
36. There are five Smiths in a row on Panel 38E, Line 14
37. 1968 alone requires 74 of 140 panels: first panel 33E and last panel W35
38. Professional football players who died in Vietnam:
a. Donald Thomas Steinbrunner, Cleveland Browns offensive tackle, Panel 23E, Line 096
b. James Robert Kalsu, Buffalo Bills guard, Panel W08, Line 038
30. Ronald Walsh McLean, Jimmy Stewart’s stepson, Panel W23, Line 113
40. Wieland Clyde Norris, Chuck Norris’ brother, Panel W09, Line 005
41. The Three Soldiers statue, sculpted by Frederick Hart, local DC artist (deceased). Dedicated Veterans Day 1984. Weapons: M-60, 45, and M-16
42. Vietnam Women’s Memorial dedicated 11 Nov 93, sculpture by Glenna Goodacre of Santa Fe, NM. Goodacre also designed the US Silver Dollar issued in 2000 with an image of Sacajawea (the Native American who aided Lewis & Clark), and the statue of Ronald Reagan at The Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA.
These facts were compiled from various sources, including VVMF audit. Every attempt has been made by AV Wall and PMAV to verify the information, we apologize for any inaccuracies. Please inform us of
changes needed.
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