Honored at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Pfc. William C. Dayton, 21, a Marine, was killed in action when he stepped on a land mine. He died in a hospital at the Marine Air Base at Da Nang.
Mr. Dayton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Dayton of Jacktown, were notified by a Marine colonel that their son had been killed in action in Vietnam. The officer came to Cambridge and stopped by Cambridge Police Department to ask directions to their home. The Daytons were called to see if they were at home and tell them that someone was at the headquarters to see them.
Mr. and Mrs. Dayton, thinking it was a friend, came to the headquarters. When they arrived at the headquarters, the Marine colonel asked Mrs. Dayton if she had a son named William C. Dayton. She answered yes, and the colonel broke the news to her.
Pfc. Dayton entered the Marines on May 18, 1966, and arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 24, 1966. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, D Company, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF. Mr. Dayton's duties included a water rig, a tube that shot out water to the enemy.
Had he lived eight more days, he would have been 22 years old on March 5, 1967.
Before Mr. Dayton left for Vietnam, he had three dreams that he wasn't going to see his 22nd birthday, Jimmy Dayton, William Dayton's older brother, said on Friday.
Mr. Dayton's body was returned to Dorchester County a few weeks after he was killed.
According to "The Rocking Chair" column by Elsie McNamare, in the March 10, 1967, Daily Banner, "The bell in the fire tower of Rescue Fire Co. tolled yesterday to remind the community that a young Marine was being laid to rest in Dorchester Memorial Park. Pfc. Billy Dayton came home in Spirit. He arrived in a casket draped in an American flag, for whose country he gave his life that you and I might live in a peaceful world. It was just a few months ago that the young man left his home and loved ones, and enlisted in the United States Marines. During December he went to Vietnam, where he paid the supreme sacrifice on Feb. 25. Yesterday, a group of Marines came to Cambridge for to accord full military rites for the first one from Dorchester County to lay down his life in the Vietnam Conflict."
He joined the military because he felt obligated to serve his country. Because the draft was in effect, William Dayton wanted to go into the service in the branch of his own choosing. His father was a Marine so he wanted to be a Marine, too.
William was one of 40 Dorchester County soldiers then in Vietnam.
Before entering the service, Mr. Dayton was an employee of Western Printing and Lithographing Co. He was a 1963 graduate of Cambridge High School and had been a member of the Little League and the Boy Scouts. In high school, he was a member of the Gym Club. He played intramural softball, basketball and football, and lettered in wrestling.
On April 2, 1967, a brass marker and a metasequoia tree was planted at Long Wharf in Cambridge to honor Pfc. Dayton, the first Dorchester County military man to die in Vietnam.
The tree is no longer there because it was hit by lightning, but the plaque is still there.
Pfc. Dayton is remembered by his brother as "always smiling and loving life."
Pfc. William C. Dayton, 21, a Marine, was killed in action when he stepped on a land mine. He died in a hospital at the Marine Air Base at Da Nang.
Mr. Dayton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Dayton of Jacktown, were notified by a Marine colonel that their son had been killed in action in Vietnam. The officer came to Cambridge and stopped by Cambridge Police Department to ask directions to their home. The Daytons were called to see if they were at home and tell them that someone was at the headquarters to see them.
Mr. and Mrs. Dayton, thinking it was a friend, came to the headquarters. When they arrived at the headquarters, the Marine colonel asked Mrs. Dayton if she had a son named William C. Dayton. She answered yes, and the colonel broke the news to her.
Pfc. Dayton entered the Marines on May 18, 1966, and arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 24, 1966. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, D Company, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF. Mr. Dayton's duties included a water rig, a tube that shot out water to the enemy.
Had he lived eight more days, he would have been 22 years old on March 5, 1967.
Before Mr. Dayton left for Vietnam, he had three dreams that he wasn't going to see his 22nd birthday, Jimmy Dayton, William Dayton's older brother, said on Friday.
Mr. Dayton's body was returned to Dorchester County a few weeks after he was killed.
According to "The Rocking Chair" column by Elsie McNamare, in the March 10, 1967, Daily Banner, "The bell in the fire tower of Rescue Fire Co. tolled yesterday to remind the community that a young Marine was being laid to rest in Dorchester Memorial Park. Pfc. Billy Dayton came home in Spirit. He arrived in a casket draped in an American flag, for whose country he gave his life that you and I might live in a peaceful world. It was just a few months ago that the young man left his home and loved ones, and enlisted in the United States Marines. During December he went to Vietnam, where he paid the supreme sacrifice on Feb. 25. Yesterday, a group of Marines came to Cambridge for to accord full military rites for the first one from Dorchester County to lay down his life in the Vietnam Conflict."
He joined the military because he felt obligated to serve his country. Because the draft was in effect, William Dayton wanted to go into the service in the branch of his own choosing. His father was a Marine so he wanted to be a Marine, too.
William was one of 40 Dorchester County soldiers then in Vietnam.
Before entering the service, Mr. Dayton was an employee of Western Printing and Lithographing Co. He was a 1963 graduate of Cambridge High School and had been a member of the Little League and the Boy Scouts. In high school, he was a member of the Gym Club. He played intramural softball, basketball and football, and lettered in wrestling.
On April 2, 1967, a brass marker and a metasequoia tree was planted at Long Wharf in Cambridge to honor Pfc. Dayton, the first Dorchester County military man to die in Vietnam.
The tree is no longer there because it was hit by lightning, but the plaque is still there.
Pfc. Dayton is remembered by his brother as "always smiling and loving life."
Honored at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Pfc. William C. Dayton, 21, a Marine, was killed in action when he stepped on a land mine. He died in a hospital at the Marine Air Base at Da Nang.
Mr. Dayton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Dayton of Jacktown, were notified by a Marine colonel that their son had been killed in action in Vietnam. The officer came to Cambridge and stopped by Cambridge Police Department to ask directions to their home. The Daytons were called to see if they were at home and tell them that someone was at the headquarters to see them.
Mr. and Mrs. Dayton, thinking it was a friend, came to the headquarters. When they arrived at the headquarters, the Marine colonel asked Mrs. Dayton if she had a son named William C. Dayton. She answered yes, and the colonel broke the news to her.
Pfc. Dayton entered the Marines on May 18, 1966, and arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 24, 1966. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, D Company, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF. Mr. Dayton's duties included a water rig, a tube that shot out water to the enemy.
Had he lived eight more days, he would have been 22 years old on March 5, 1967.
Before Mr. Dayton left for Vietnam, he had three dreams that he wasn't going to see his 22nd birthday, Jimmy Dayton, William Dayton's older brother, said on Friday.
Mr. Dayton's body was returned to Dorchester County a few weeks after he was killed.
According to "The Rocking Chair" column by Elsie McNamare, in the March 10, 1967, Daily Banner, "The bell in the fire tower of Rescue Fire Co. tolled yesterday to remind the community that a young Marine was being laid to rest in Dorchester Memorial Park. Pfc. Billy Dayton came home in Spirit. He arrived in a casket draped in an American flag, for whose country he gave his life that you and I might live in a peaceful world. It was just a few months ago that the young man left his home and loved ones, and enlisted in the United States Marines. During December he went to Vietnam, where he paid the supreme sacrifice on Feb. 25. Yesterday, a group of Marines came to Cambridge for to accord full military rites for the first one from Dorchester County to lay down his life in the Vietnam Conflict."
He joined the military because he felt obligated to serve his country. Because the draft was in effect, William Dayton wanted to go into the service in the branch of his own choosing. His father was a Marine so he wanted to be a Marine, too.
William was one of 40 Dorchester County soldiers then in Vietnam.
Before entering the service, Mr. Dayton was an employee of Western Printing and Lithographing Co. He was a 1963 graduate of Cambridge High School and had been a member of the Little League and the Boy Scouts. In high school, he was a member of the Gym Club. He played intramural softball, basketball and football, and lettered in wrestling.
On April 2, 1967, a brass marker and a metasequoia tree was planted at Long Wharf in Cambridge to honor Pfc. Dayton, the first Dorchester County military man to die in Vietnam.
The tree is no longer there because it was hit by lightning, but the plaque is still there.
Pfc. Dayton is remembered by his brother as "always smiling and loving life."
Pfc. William C. Dayton, 21, a Marine, was killed in action when he stepped on a land mine. He died in a hospital at the Marine Air Base at Da Nang.
Mr. Dayton's parents, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Dayton of Jacktown, were notified by a Marine colonel that their son had been killed in action in Vietnam. The officer came to Cambridge and stopped by Cambridge Police Department to ask directions to their home. The Daytons were called to see if they were at home and tell them that someone was at the headquarters to see them.
Mr. and Mrs. Dayton, thinking it was a friend, came to the headquarters. When they arrived at the headquarters, the Marine colonel asked Mrs. Dayton if she had a son named William C. Dayton. She answered yes, and the colonel broke the news to her.
Pfc. Dayton entered the Marines on May 18, 1966, and arrived in Vietnam on Dec. 24, 1966. He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, D Company, 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF. Mr. Dayton's duties included a water rig, a tube that shot out water to the enemy.
Had he lived eight more days, he would have been 22 years old on March 5, 1967.
Before Mr. Dayton left for Vietnam, he had three dreams that he wasn't going to see his 22nd birthday, Jimmy Dayton, William Dayton's older brother, said on Friday.
Mr. Dayton's body was returned to Dorchester County a few weeks after he was killed.
According to "The Rocking Chair" column by Elsie McNamare, in the March 10, 1967, Daily Banner, "The bell in the fire tower of Rescue Fire Co. tolled yesterday to remind the community that a young Marine was being laid to rest in Dorchester Memorial Park. Pfc. Billy Dayton came home in Spirit. He arrived in a casket draped in an American flag, for whose country he gave his life that you and I might live in a peaceful world. It was just a few months ago that the young man left his home and loved ones, and enlisted in the United States Marines. During December he went to Vietnam, where he paid the supreme sacrifice on Feb. 25. Yesterday, a group of Marines came to Cambridge for to accord full military rites for the first one from Dorchester County to lay down his life in the Vietnam Conflict."
He joined the military because he felt obligated to serve his country. Because the draft was in effect, William Dayton wanted to go into the service in the branch of his own choosing. His father was a Marine so he wanted to be a Marine, too.
William was one of 40 Dorchester County soldiers then in Vietnam.
Before entering the service, Mr. Dayton was an employee of Western Printing and Lithographing Co. He was a 1963 graduate of Cambridge High School and had been a member of the Little League and the Boy Scouts. In high school, he was a member of the Gym Club. He played intramural softball, basketball and football, and lettered in wrestling.
On April 2, 1967, a brass marker and a metasequoia tree was planted at Long Wharf in Cambridge to honor Pfc. Dayton, the first Dorchester County military man to die in Vietnam.
The tree is no longer there because it was hit by lightning, but the plaque is still there.
Pfc. Dayton is remembered by his brother as "always smiling and loving life."
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