Eastern Washington University Athletics

“Bink” made the ultimate sacrifice to his country when he was killed in Vietnam, just three years removed from playing football for Eastern. He was an All-Evergreen Conference linebacker in 1967 when Eastern finished 11-1 and advanced to the NAIA championship game. He was honorable mention on the Associated Press Little All-Northwest and the NAIA All-District I teams, and went on to finish his degree in 1968 and coach for Eastern that fall. He lettered at Eastern three seasons from 1965-67 and wore the No. 57 jersey. Also playing as an offensive guard, Wall was 6-foot-2, 210 pounds as a senior, and was originally from Tekoa, Wash. Wall was a commissioned lieutenant in the U.S. Army after attending Eastern from 1964-68 and being a part of the school’s ROTC program. He was fatally wounded in Vietnam on April 1, 1970. Wall and two other former Eastern student-athletes and war veterans (Dick Huston and Michael Hanneman) were honored posthumously on Nov. 7, 1981 by having the EWU Sports and Recreation Center dedicated in their memory. The Eastern strength and conditioning center is named in Wall’s honor, while the SRC gyms are named after Huston and Hanneman. Wall and Hanneman were killed in action in Vietnam while Huston was killed in a mine explosion in Korea. Wall was selected by the Eastern Athletic Department to the “100 for 100” All-Time Football Team, which was honored on Sept. 27, 2008, to commemorate Eastern’s 100th year of football. An award is still presented in his honor at Tekoa High School. In his nomination of Wall for the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame, Dan Weaver wrote: “When I think back on the era of black helmets (great hits) and routine victories, I think of a dominating defense led by Wall at linebacker.” This was written about Wall in the program for the EWU Sports and Recreation Center dedication ceremony: “Bill ‘Bink’ Wall had a passion for hard, physical work, the kind of labor typical of a linebacker for a good football team. Wall embraced weight training to improve his football skills and they became considerable.” Eastern teammate Greg Gavin, who was inducted into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014, spoke on behalf of Wall at the ceremony. Bink’s full name was William Penn Wall III, and he received the nickname “Bink” from his aunt, who called him that because he liked his binky. His wife, Linda, was a graduate of Shadle Park High School in Spokane and they met at the end of her freshman year at Eastern. They were married and eventually had two children and later five grandchildren. Their first daughter, Laura, was born on Sept. 20, 1968, while he was serving as an assistant coach for Eastern. Their second daughter, Stephanie, was born on April 14, 1970 – just 13 days after Bink’s death.