WEBB, WILLIAM MATTHEW

WEBB, WILLIAM MATTHEW, PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, U.S. MARINE CORP, ODESSA, ECTOR, TEXAS

PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETMAN CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL, MARINE CORP COMBAT ACTION RIBBON.

William was born in Knox City, Texas. He was the youngest of five children. He was raised in Odessa and in Hobbs, New Mexico. He attended Lamar Elementary in Odessa and then attended schools in Hobbs. The family moved back to Odessa in 1965 and he did not return to school and had gotten into some legal difficulty. He was offered the opportunity to expunge his conviction by entering the military service from Odessa. He volunteered for the draft and was inducted into the Marine Corp in March 1968
He completed his boot camp at the Marine Corp Recruit Training Depot in San Diego, California. He then completed ITR training at Camp Pendleton, California. He had other training and then began his tour in Vietnam on November 16, 1968. He was assigned as a rifleman with B Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, First Marine Division. His company was involved in heavy fighting in the Quang Nam Province within days of his arrival. He was killed by small arms fire on December 2, 1968, 17 days after beginning his tour. He was 18 years old and two months short of his 19th birthday.
He was buried with full military honors in the Rosehill Division of the Odessa Cemetery. He was survived by his mother, Mary Webb of San Angelo, brother, Billy Webb of Odessa, and three sisters, Ruth Cobb of Hobbs, New Mexico, Mary O'Dell of Plainview, Texas and Effie Cox of San Angelo. He was also survived by his grandmother. Ruth Reynolds of Iowa Park, Texas.