Gilliam's dream was to buy a horne in the country. He left Germantown High School and enlisted in the Marine Corps, unsure of whether or not to pursue a military career. The 19-year-old lance corporal, a field artilIery fire control man, arrived in Vietnam in May 1968 and was assigned to Battery D of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He died in Quang Nam Province on March 19, 1969, when another soldier accidentally detonated a grenade near him. He was survived by his mother and four brothers.