William Ritchie McKim
Private First Class, U.S. Army

William Ritchie McKim was born on 21 July 1947, the son of William Nolan and Helen P. McKim.

Billy enlisted in the U.S. Army on 29 January 1965 and signed up for auto mechanic school. He received his basic training at Fort Dix, NJ. Just before the end of basic training, there was a pitch for guys to opt for airborne training, and Billy went for the pitch. He was nicknamed Hop because he had a leg deformity. It was not bad enough to keep him out of the Army, but enough to keep him out of airborne. That was how he wound up in the infantry. By signing up for airborne training, he nullified his assignment to auto mechanic school and was sent to advanced infantry training instead. Following completion of training, he took the physical for airborne and failed to pass. This was a great disappointment for Billy and resulted in his being deployed to Vietnam as an Infantryman.

Private First Class Billy McKim began his tour in South Vietnam on 10 October 1965, serving with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

On 14 February 1966, PFC McKim was killed in action when he sustained multiple fragmentation wounds. His body was recovered.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Purple Heart
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge

Honors

The name William R McKim is located on Panel 5E Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

Burial

Private First Class William Ritchie McKim is buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, Bergen County, NJ, in Block S, Lot 41, Section A, Grave 4.

[The personal information in this biography was provided by a friend from Cresskill, NJ, Robert 'Bob' Pullman, who enlisted on the same day as Billy. His letter to Billy's cousin, Barb West, is included in the Remembrances Section in its entirety.]