The Wall › Panel 30W › Mississippi › Carter Purvis Luna
CARTER PURVIS LUNA
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
September 25, 1928 – March 10, 1969
Service recordCarter Purvis Luna, of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on March 10, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 102 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30W · Line 102
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)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 435 TFS 8 TFW
- Born
- September 25, 1928
- Home of record
- Hazlehurst, Mississippi (Copiah County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 10, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date March 10, 1969. In March 1969, 1,553 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 30W, Line 102
- CLARENCE EDWARD FETTYStaff Sergeant · March 10, 1969
- BUFORD HARDYPrivate First Class · March 10, 1969
- JOHN WESLEY HILL JRCorporal · March 10, 1969
- CALVIN JOHNSONSpecialist Five · March 10, 1969
- JOHN EDWARD LORTZ IIICorporal · March 10, 1969
From Hazlehurst
- A V SPIKESSpecialist Four · May 21, 1966
- EDGAR HUNTER BEASLEYCorporal · November 3, 1966
- EDWARD EARL BEACHAMPrivate First Class · May 26, 1968
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.