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William Lee Peters Jr.

William Lee Peters Jr.
U.S. Marine Corps
First Lieutenant [O-2]
Biography:
William Lee Peters, Jr was a native of Fort Dodge, and graduated from Fort Dodge High School in 1961. Peters attended the University of Iowa, and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He graduated from college in 1966, and joined the Marine Corps in 1967. 1LT Peters arrived in Vietnam in November 1968. While serving in Southeast Asia he piloted a CH-46D helicopter. On April 12, 1969 1LT Peters was assigned to a mission to insert a reconnaissance team in hostile territory, they inserted the reconnaissance team and began to lift off, when they started to receive fire from small arms and automatic weapons. The aircraft took extensive damage. Surrounded and outnumbered 1LT Peters decided to land again and attempt an extraction of the reconnaissance team, under and ever increasing volume of fire from the enemy. He assured that the ground unit was safely aboard and lifted off saving the lives of his fellow Marines. 1LT Peters was awarded the Silver Star, the Navy Cross, and the Air Medal for his heroism. On June 21, 1969 he was piloting a helicopter in the Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. They were being heavily damaged by heavy small arms fire while whiel entering a landing zone. The insertion was aborted; upon trying to leave there was an explosion aft of the cockpit area. The helicopter crashed killing 8 men, including 1LT Peters. His body was returned to Iowa and buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in De Witt.
County:
Webster
City of EntryFort Dodge
Conflict/Time PeriodVietnam War
Service Location
Organization(s)
Separation StatusKilled In Action (KIA)
Specialty/Rate
Specific Jobs