The Wall › Panel 32E › Puerto Rico › Carlos Rafael Cruz
CARLOS RAFAEL CRUZ
Major · U.S. Air Force
October 29, 1941 – December 29, 1967
Service recordCarlos Rafael Cruz, of Arroyo, Puerto Rico, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 29, 1967, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 32E, Line 91 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32E · Line 91
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1225Z)
- Born
- October 29, 1941
- Home of record
- Arroyo, Puerto Rico (Arroyo County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 29, 1967
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1967. In December 1967, 937 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
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 32E, Line 91
- JON MICHAEL CAPPAERTSecond Lieutenant · December 29, 1967
- GEAN PRESTON CLAPPERChief Master Sergeant · December 29, 1967
- CHARLES PETER CLAXTONColonel · December 29, 1967
- HOPSON COVINGTONPrivate First Class · December 29, 1967
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.