The Wall › Panel 52E › Texas › Bobby Gene Vinson
BOBBY GENE VINSON
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
January 17, 1928 – April 24, 1968
Service recordBobby Gene Vinson, of Nederland, Texas, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 24, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 52E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 52E · Line 1
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115F)
- Born
- January 17, 1928
- Home of record
- Nederland, Texas (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 24, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
39 names on the Wall carry the date April 24, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 52E, Line 1
- JERRY BOB TRUITTPrivate First Class · April 24, 1968
- RALPH VOSSSpecialist Four · April 24, 1968
- LESTER TIMOTHY WALKERSergeant · April 24, 1968
- JOHN MICHAEL WEATHERFORDStaff Sergeant · April 24, 1968
From Nederland
- JOHN CARNUL MYATTPrivate · May 10, 1963
- ARVIN DOUGLAS PENNELLSergeant · May 25, 1966
- JAMES P FERGUSONSpecialist Four · February 8, 1968
- WILLIAM TERREL MCNAIRMajor · September 17, 1969
- JAMES GEORGE HOWARD JRFirst Lieutenant · June 1, 1970
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.