Wood, William Milton
Army Sergeant 1st class
William Milton Wood, age 26, from Siskiyou County Happy Camp, California .
Spouse: Siskiyou Co
Children: Multiple
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, February 14, 1966
Death details: Distinguished Service Cross citiation: “During the operation the platoon encountered intense hostile fire from well entrenched insurgent forces. Realizing his platoon was nearly surrounded, Sgt. Wood deliberately exposed himself to the Viet Cong fire while issuing emphatic orders to his comrades to realign their offensvie posture. Stopping only once to pick up and carry a wounded solider to safety, he continued to lead the platoon through the ambush. Although wounded and suffering intense pain, he utilized a fallen soldier’s grenade launcher and rallied the platoon, causing the insurgent force to withdraw. Running out of ammunition, Sgt. Wood directed hostile fire away from his platoon by placing himslef in a conspicuous position to draw the Vit Cong fire. Without a weapon, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Sg. Wood continued to rally the platoon and lead them through in the final breakthrough from the Viet Cong ambush. During this final attempt, he was mortally wounded by hostile machine gun fire.”
Source: National Archives, Sacramento Bee (1966)