lest we forget

ROWE, WILLIAM EDWIN

Rank / Branch:

STAFF SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1946-05-05

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

HOSTILE, SMALL ARMS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

GROUND

Other:

MARRIED

Unit:

FIRST DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

1969-03-21

Loss Coordinates:

BEN HOA

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

ROWE, WILLIAM EDWIN, STAFF SERGEANT, ODESSA, ECTOR, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

COMBAT INFANTRYMAN'S BADGE, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

William "Bill "Edwin Rowe was born in Odessa to Audrey Bills Rowe and Arthur Clayton Rowe. He was the second of three sons born to this marriage. He had an older brother James Clifton, and a younger brother, Randel Lee. His mother had been married before and she had a daughter, Rosa "Marie" Harrold. When Billy was in the second grade in Odessa, his father was killed in an oilfield accident near Odessa on May 11, 1953. His mother married George Ellis Jeffcoat in Carlsbad, New Mexico on April 19, 1954. Mr. Jeffcoat worked in the oilfields of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. The family lived in Carlsbad and then moved to Levelland, Texas and a sister Patricia Irene Jeffcoat was born in Lubbock in January 1956. The family then moved back to Odessa and a brother, Mark Steven Jeffcoat was born in Odessa in October 1958.
Bill attended Hood Junior High and Permian High School through his sophomore year in 1963. The family moved to Costa Mesa, California and Bill graduated from high school at Costa Mesa High School in 1965. Bill was drafted into the Army in July 1967, and he completed his Basic and AIT training at Fort Ord, California. He was selected to attend the NCOC Academy at Harmony Church, Fort Benning, Georgia. While home on leave for X-mas, he married Linda Elaine Dunkle of Odessa in Westminster, California, December 17, 1967. She was his high school sweetheart from Permian. She had graduated just before Bill was drafted.
After graduation with Class 17-68 on April 9, 1968, he was promoted to Sergeant E-5. He then attended Leadership Phase II at Fort Ord back at Fort Ord, California and other leadership schools at Fort Polk, Louisiana enroute to Vietnam.
He began his tour in Vietnam on July 20, 1968. He was assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, First Infantry Division (Big Red One). He was a squad leader. He was promoted to SSG and became a platoon sergeant. He was killed in action on March 21, 1969 near Bien Hoa.
He was buried with full military honors in the Remembrance Garden Cemetery in Westminster, California. He was survived by his wife, Linda, his mother and stepfather, his three brothers and his two sisters. Within two years of Bill's death, the family relocated back to Texas. As of 1987, his mother and stepfather had divorced, and his mother was living in Odessa. His older sister, Rosa Marie Harrold Reynolds lives in Arkansas, his brothers, James Clifton and Randel Lee live in Odessa, his younger sister Patricia Jeffcoat Miller lives in Odessa, as the youngest brother, Mark Steven.