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SSG William John Winters, Boonville, NY KIA 1969
William John Winters
Staff Sergeant
C CO, 1ST BN, 50TH INFANTRY, 173RD ABN BDE, USARV
Army of the United States
Boonville, New York
October 12, 1945 to May 14,1969
ok all that it may concern best friend of my wife in i of 20 yrs this is her brother her name is Sandra winters she was 17 when she lost her brother shes hurt ever since with the loss let alone no knowing what happened to him. Could anyone possibly have any photo's they could share and or call me to help her out? My wife n I have military vehicles and built many displays for vets for nothing. My dad was in the 1/7 air cav in vietnam 68-70 hope that helps he he. Sandra also has no photo’s of her brother possible anyone atleast has any? If someone can relieve her I would personally appreciate it.
steve champney
1-315-280-0429
git_r_done_studio@yahoo.com
thankyou very much

Steve,

I am the Historian for our Association and have been devoting much time to all our men killed in action. Your post is the first we have heard from anyone on SSG Winters. I have been searching the National Archives Records Administration for mention of the action which took your brother-in-law's life...to no avail. We only know that our Charlie Company was detached from the main 50th Infantry Battalion group and under the operational control of other 173rd Airborne Brigades at the time of John Winters' death....All of the Company except the 2nd Platoon was working with the 4th Bn/503rd Inf...and the 2nd Platoon was working with the 2nd Bn/503rd Inf.

I have checked the Daily Staff Journals and Battalion Histories from both the 4th and 2nd battalions of the 503rd for May 14th...and so far have found no mention of the incedent which took our man's life.

Since the cause of death is indicated as "OED"..we can safely assume he was killed by a mine or booby trrap of some sort. There are several scenarios which could lead to the lack of specific documentation. He may have been injured at an earlier date...and died on the 14th. With this in mind, I have tried to peruse all documents for a few days previous...all to no avail.

I will contact you privately with other details about our memorial efforts.

Regards,
Jim Sheppard

hi appreciate the reply from you anything we can find is nice sandy is going to see her parents in a week she thinks she can come up with possibly the medals and telegram who knows what else. "rumor" has it he hit a land mine in possibly a jeep. someone knows what happend out there he he i do know he was in okinawa and wounded over something and heres all i could find
William John Winters
Staff Sergeant
PERSONAL DATA
Home of Record: Boonville, NY
Date of birth: 10/12/1945
MILITARY DATA
Service: Army of the United States
Grade at loss: E5
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Note: Posthumous Promotion as indicated
ID No: 52968611
MOS: 11B40: Infantryman
Length Service: 01
Unit: C CO, 1ST BN, 50TH INFANTRY, 173RD ABN BDE, USARV
CASUALTY DATA
Start Tour: 01/10/1969
Casualty Date: 05/14/1969
Age at Loss: 23
Location: Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died of wounds
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
ON THE WALL Panel 24W Line 014
I will say one thing even in my dads search of people whom were there the vets bend over backwords to help and with the millions of favors we done for all for nothing he he it has paid off our family thanks all for what you guys have done for our country.