HONORED ON PANEL 23E, LINE 41 OF THE WALL
WILLIAM JOSEPH DEUERLING
WALL NAME
WILLIAM J DEUERLING
PANEL / LINE
23E/41
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR WILLIAM JOSEPH DEUERLING
POSTED ON 8.13.2023
POSTED BY: [email protected]
Final Mission of SGT William J. Deuerling
Operation Greeley was a 173rd Airborne Brigade search-and-destroy operation in the jungle-covered mountains near Dak To in Kontum Province, RVN. On the afternoon of July 10, 1967, three maneuver battalions conducted a sweep near a 2700-foot mountain referred to Hill 830, 12 kilometers (7.2 miles) south of Ben Het village. Companies A, B, and D, 4th Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry, moved west toward their day’s objective when Company A made heavy contact with a dug-in North Vietnamese Army (NVA) unit on Hill 830. Company A received fire from three heavy machine guns at close range. Artillery was called on the enemy positions as Company B closed in to support. They were hit by two more heavy machine guns in undetected bunkers. The NVA further employed light automatic weapons and mortar fire. The enemy positions were mutually supporting and estimated to be occupied by a reinforced NVA company. Company D, which had been in reserve, maneuvered to relieve pressure on the besieged companies. The enemy broke contact at 6:00 PM and withdrew, leaving nine bodies and three weapons behind. Two days later, two NVA wounded were captured in a base camp to the southwest of the contact. American losses were 25 killed and 50 wounded. The lost personnel included (A-4/503rd) SFC Myron S. Beach Jr., PFC John C. Borowski (posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross), SP4 Roger W. Clark, SGT William J. Deuerling (posthumously awarded the Silver Star medal), SP4 Arthur A. Erwin, PFC David H. Johnson, 1LT Daniel W. Jordan (posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross), SP4 Oris L. Poole, SP4 Walter A. Samans Jr., and SP4 Franklin S. Shepherd; (B-4/503rd) SGT David P. Crozier, PFC Jimmy E. Darby, SP4 Larry A. Doring, PFC James Fabrizio, PFC Frazier D. Huggins (posthumously promoted to Corporal), SFC William A. Scott, PFC Malton G. Shores, PFC Harry D. Spier, and SGT Jesus M. Torres; (HHC-4/503rd) SGT Siegfried Kofler, PFC Joel M. Sabel (posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and promoted to Corporal), and MAJ Walter D. Williams; (3/319th Arty) SGT Kenneth L. Brown, PFC Michael S. Mitchell, and 1LT Arthur C. Retzlaff. One of the wounded, SP4 Peter G. Lechnir (B-4/503rd), was evacuated to the United States. Medically retired and confined to a wheelchair, he died of his injuries on February 15, 1973. Lechnir’s name was added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in November 1991. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and vvmf.org]
read more
read less
POSTED ON 4.12.2022
POSTED BY: John Fabris
honoring you...
Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever…..
read more
read less
POSTED ON 10.5.2021
POSTED BY: Dennis Wriston
I'm proud of our Vietnam Veterans
Sergeant William Joseph Deuerling, Served with Company A, 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, United States Army Vietnam.
read more
read less
POSTED ON 12.24.2019
POSTED BY: Rod Phillips