AV Wall Facts

When the AV Wall is displayed, it is open 24 hours/day for free public viewing

  1. Vietnam Era: 1 Nov 1955 – 15 May 1975 (by Congress in 1999)
  2. As of 2022 – 384 names added since 1986
  3. Number of casualties on The Wall – 58,281
  4. Total number of names engraved on The Wall – 58,395 (includes duplications and errors)
  5. 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!
  6. There are 8 Females on the Wall all Nurses (7,484 Military women served in Vietnam, 6,250 were nurses.)
  7. There are 43 sets of Brothers on the Wall
  8. There is one set of Step-Brothers
  9. There are 3 Fathers/Sons on the Wall
  10. There are 16 Chaplains on the Wall, 7 Catholic (2 Medal of Honor Recipients – MoH), 2 Jewish, 7 Protestant
  11. There are 10 Nurses on the Wall; 8 Female, 2 Male
  12. There are 1345 Army Medics on the Wall (unconfirmed)
  13. There are 691 Navy Corpsmen on the Wall (unconfirmed)
  14. There are 8 Coast Guard on the Wall
  15. There are 21 different countries represented on the Wall
  16. There are 57 Canadians on the Wall
  17. Earliest to Die – Richard B Fitzgibbon Jr (52E, 021), 8-Jun-56
  18. First Name on Panel 01E – Dale Richard Buis (01E, 001), 8-Jul-59
  19. There are 13 Flag Officers on the Wall
  20. Highest Casualty Day – 31-Jan-68: 246
  21. Highest Casualty Month – May-68: 2,416
  22. Highest Casualty Year – 1968: 16,916
  23. Peak US In Country (Inco) Troop Strength – 30-Apr-69: 543,482
  24. There are 76 Names on the Wall with ties to the Antelope Valley
  25. Approximately 997 were killed on their first day in Vietnam (unconfirmed)
  26. Shortest Tour – Leslie Gene King (02E, 047), 01-Aug-65, 4 Hours (unconfirmed)
  27. Approximately 1,443 were killed on their day of departure from Vietnam (unconfirmed)
  28. MoH – 160 (159 from Vietnam, 1 from WWII) on Wall (Average Age of MoH on Wall: 24), Total for Vietnam 266
  29. Native Americans – 232
  30. Most interesting Native American Name: Frank W JEALOUS-OF-HIM (W22, 002)
  31. Oldest on Memorial – Frank Luther Huddleston (16E, 109), 12-Aug-02, 68 yrs old (added in 2003)
  32. Youngest to Die (Inco)– Dan Bullock (23W, 096), 7-Jun-69, 15.5 years old, Born: 21-Dec-53
  33. There are 13 Flag Officers on the Wall
  34. 40,361 Soldiers on the Wall were under 22 years old.
  35. At least two (2) Soldiers and two (2) Marines were killed as the result of an attack by an Indochinese tiger.
  36. Most Common Name – Smith – 662
  37. Unknown Soldier – Michael Joseph Blassie (W01, 023), 11-May-72, Interred as Unknown in 1984, rebuired 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
  38. First tw Blue Water Navy deaths – Antone Perry, Jr (13E, 074); 23-Dec-66, Thomas Lee Tiglas (13E, 076), 23-Dec-66.
  39. Longest name: Rodrigo Velazquez-Feliciano Jr, (42E, 055)
  40. Shortest names: Ben Coy, (22E, 024) and Ned Lee, (38E, 029)
  41. There are five (5) Smith’s in a row on (38E, 014)
  42. Professional Football Players who died in Vietnam:
    1. Donald Thomas Steinbrunner – Cleveland Browns/Offensive Tackle, (23E, 096)
    2. James Robert Kalsu – Buffalo Bills/Guard, (W08, 038)
  43. Ronald Walsh Mc Lean – Jimmy Stewart’s stepson, (W23, 113)
  44. Wieland Clyde Norris – Chuck Norris’ brother, (W09, 005)
  45. Robert John Carmody – Olympic Bronze Medalist – 1964, (28E, 079)
  46. Richard Warren Pershing – Grandson of General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing, (W09,005)
  47. James Van Howard – Son of Lula Grace Johnson, known professionally as Jan Howard, an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star, (40W, 058)
  48. 3 Servicemen Statue, sculpted by Frederick Hart, local DC artist (deceased). DedicatedVeterans Day 1984. Weapons – M-60, 45, and M-16
  49. Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Dedicated 11-Nov-93, Sculpture by Glenna Goodacre of SantaFe, NM. Goodacre also designed US Silver Dollar issued in 2000 with image of Sacajawea -Native American who aided Lewis & Clark. Also statue of Ronald Reagan at Reagan Library in CA.

These facts were compiled from various source, 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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