William Henry Harrison III ★ Vietnam War Gold Star Veteran from Virginia
On October 1, 1972 Seaman Apprentice Harrison was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. ★ He served with honor in the United States Navy. ★ He is remembered by the people of Virginia. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Click to Submit Update Request for this Fallen Service Member▼ Content Integrity Note
Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of William Henry Harrison III is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2020-08-14 13:58:31.
Missing : Core Data
· Special awards and honors· Date of tour or service
Missing : Supplemental Data
· Birth + childhood location· Educational background
· Marriage history
· Parents, family history
· Expanded references and citations
Service Details
| This Profile ID | 276967 |
| Service ID | 224821656 |
| Name | William Henry Harrison III |
| From | Clifton Forge, Alleghany County, Virginia |
| Birth Date | August 11, 1953 |
| Casualty Date | October 1, 1972 |
| War | Vietnam War |
| Service Branch | Navy |
| Rank | Enlisted |
| Specialty | Seaman Apprentice |
| Unit/Group | 7th Fleet, USS Newport News (CA 148) |
| Casualty Type | Died through hostile action, Casualty at sea, Misadventure, Friendly Fire |
| Location | North Vietnam, Quang Tri province, Gulf of Tonkin |
| Burial | Alleghany Memorial Park, Low Moor, Alleghany County, Virginia |
| Notable Awards |
★ Purple Heart |
| Remembered | William Henry Harrison III is buried or memorialized at Alleghany Memorial Park, Low Moor, Alleghany County, Virginia.  William is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 01w, Line 77. |
Additional Details
He was serving aboard the USS Newport News when an 8-inch projectile in the bore of the center gun of Turret Two exploded prematurely, setting off several powder casings in the hoists. They had been providing naval gunfire support off the coast of North Vietnam. Over 2 dozen were men killed and dozens of others injured.Incident Code #USSNewportNews-10011972 We identified 20 casualties in our archive related to the #USSNewportNews-10011972 incident on October 1, 1972.
◼William H Harrison III :: Seaman Apprentice
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Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Purple Heart
★ Combat Action Ribbon
★ National Defense Service Medal
★ Vietnam Campaign Medal
★ Vietnam Service Medal
★ Navy Presidential Unit Citation
★ Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.Virginia Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of Virginia who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ Virginia was home to over 10,961 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 1,745 World War I
• 7,029 World War II
• 882 Korean War
• 1,305 Vietnam War
• 202 Prisoners of war
• 1,661 Missing in action
• 31 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 233 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 9 Medal of Honor recipients
• 7,029 World War II
• 882 Korean War
• 1,305 Vietnam War
• 202 Prisoners of war
• 1,661 Missing in action
• 31 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 233 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 9 Medal of Honor recipients
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Honor States Admin
▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
Honoring our fallen. Together. Uniting us in meaningful common cause. When we work together to honor our Gold Star veterans, we heal our nation together. It's a team effort. Everyone's invited to join as a Citizen Historian and Guardian of Honor. - learn more
Here is Some Important Information!
National D-Day Memorial
Dedicated on June 6th, 2001 by president George W. Bush, the National D-Day Memorial was constructed in honor of those who died that day, fighting in one of the most significant battles in our nations history.
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