William Gayland Barker

William Gayland Barker grew up in Des Moines and was a 1966 graduate of North High School. As a youth he worked for the Meredith Publishing Company for two years before being drafted by the Army. SP4 Barker was sent to South Vietnam in March 1969 as an infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division. While in Vietnam he participated in the security of the strategic bridge along the Saigon River north of the Tan Son Nhut. SP4 Barker was killed by enemy small arms fire on July 27, 1969 in the Binh Duong Province. His body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Highland Memory Gardens in Des Moines. Barker was 22 years old at the time of his death.