Our Arklahoma Heritage: Hntsville soldier was in country less than three months when he died in Viet Nam
Terry Lynn Gilliam was born on 3 October 1947 in Huntsville to Phillip Harry Gilliam and Matilda Elizabeth Walden, known as Betty. He was a native of Madison County. His mother resided in Huntsville while his father was associated with an address on Route 1 near Fayetteville
.He had a brother, Tommy Lee Gilliam, and a sister, Phyllis Ilene Gilliam, later Baker. The family were Presbyterians. In his youth he attended Huntsville High School, where he excelled as a student and athlete and was selected Mr. Huntsville High in 1965.
Classmates and a school counselor later described him as an outstanding student, athlete, and school citizen.
He planned to attend medical school.
He entered the Army through Selective Service around 1968, receiving service number 54566549. He trained as an infantryman with military occupational specialty 11B10 and rose to the rank of corporal. He was assigned as a radio operator with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, which operated under the division’s 3rd Brigade in Vietnam.
The 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry had been reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas, in February 1966 as part of the 9th Infantry Division and deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in December 1966.
The unit served primarily in the Mekong Delta region, including operations in Long An Province and surrounding areas, conducting search-and-destroy missions, security operations, and engagements against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the rice paddies and waterways of the Delta through the Counteroffensive Phase V and Phase VI campaigns.
Later that summer he was wounded by an explosive device, variously described as a mine or booby trap, in Long An Province while serving with his company. Contemporary accounts state he was killed while rescuing a fellow soldier. He was admitted to a hospital and died of his wounds on 19 July 1969 at the age of 21.
His remains were recovered and returned to the United States. He was interred on 30 July 1969 at Old Alabam Cemetery in Alabam, (Madison County) .
His name is inscribed on Panel 20W, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and other service medals consistent with his rank and tour.
A scholarship in his memory continues at Huntsville High School, supported by an annual golf tournament, and a display there honors him.
