The Wall › Panel 29W › Virginia › Charles Elbert Finney
CHARLES ELBERT FINNEY
Major · U.S. Marine Corps
June 5, 1944 – March 17, 1969
Service recordCharles Elbert Finney, of Saltville, Virginia, served as a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was lost on March 17, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 29W, Line 60 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29W · Line 60
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Qualified A-6e Bombardier/Navigator (I) (7583)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VMA AW 533 MAG 12 1 MAW
- Born
- June 5, 1944
- Home of record
- Saltville, Virginia (Smyth County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 17, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date March 17, 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 29W, Line 60
- CHARLES EDWARD DAVIS JRLance Corporal · March 17, 1969
- HAROLD PAUL DEGNERSergeant · March 17, 1969
- RODGER LYNN GARLICKSpecialist Four · March 17, 1969
- DAVID ARTHUR MITCHELLPrivate First Class · March 17, 1969
From Saltville
- ROBERT KEITH WORLEYSergeant · February 13, 1966
- HERBERT ALANSON FRYEPetty Officer First Class · July 29, 1967
- BLAKE WILEY FARRIS JRLance Corporal · January 30, 1968
- TROY RAY HAYDENPrivate First Class · March 24, 1968
- GILES WARREN STALLARDPrivate First Class · October 6, 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.