William Anthony Hanna
1946 - 1969

William Anthony Hanna , Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class US Navy, River Assault SQDN 15, was born Feb 18, 1946 to William and Mattie Lee Hanna and died in Vietnam Feb 28, 1969, age 23 from gunshot or small arms fire. He is buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery. Find A Grave Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class William Anthony Hanna was born on February 18, 1946 and had 4 years of service in the U.S. Navy, arriving in Vietnam on July 22, 1968 assigned to Armored Troop Carrier T-152-3, River Assault Squadron 15, Task Force 117 (TF-117), U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam. On February 23, 1969, a combined U.S. Navy Task Force 117/9th ARVN Infantry Division operation in the Mang Thit and My Loc areas of Vinh Long Province, Republic of Vietnam began and continued into March. The first phase of this operation, designed to neutralize enemy base area 478 and provide free access along the vital Mang Thit River-Nicola Canal wateway, concluded on March 6th. On the night of February 28, 1969 assault craft were established in remain-over-night (RON) positions at the Mang Thit Bridge, 6 miles northeast of Tam Binh, with an ARVN reconnaissance company providing perimeter defense. At 10:00 PM, an enemy sniper was able to broach the defense and sprayed the Armored Troop Carrier T-152-3 with AK-47 fire from about 10 feet, resulting in one sailor, BM2 William A. Hanna being killed in action and dying outright from hostile small arms fire. Two others were wounded. The sniper was not located nor was fire returned because of too many families in the area. Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class William Anthony Hanna is honored on the Vietnam Memorial at Panel 31W, Line 92.