The Wall › Panel 46W › Florida › Charles Harold W Read JR
CHARLES HAROLD W READ JR
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
February 3, 1929 – August 24, 1968
Service recordCharles Harold W Read JR, of Miami, Florida, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on August 24, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 46W, Line 7 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46W · Line 7
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)
- 497 TFS
- Born
- February 3, 1929
- Home of record
- Miami, Florida (Dade County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- August 24, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- 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
56 names on the Wall carry the date August 24, 1968. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “497 TFS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
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 46W, Line 7
- BENNETT EDWARD EVANSSergeant First Class · August 24, 1968
- RICHARD ANTHONY PARKERPrivate First Class · August 24, 1968
- DONALD RAY PYRANTCorporal · August 24, 1968
- DAVID NILSSON RASMUSSENSergeant · August 24, 1968
Same unit, same day
- MELVIN EARL LADEWIGCaptain · Panel 46W, Line 5
From Miami
- LOUIS ANTHONY CARRICARTESecond Lieutenant · December 12, 1963
- RANDOLPH CHESTER HOLDERLance Corporal · May 28, 1965
- ALBERT FRED ROBERTSStaff Sergeant · June 18, 1965
- ROBERT WILLIAM REAGANChief Warrant Officer 2 · September 9, 1965
- SAM MICHAEL SAVAS JRMajor · October 12, 1965
- JEFFRY LETSON KOCKRITZSergeant · October 28, 1965
- RONALD HAROLD LUKEPrivate First Class · November 4, 1965
- OSVALDO AMODIASSergeant · November 17, 1965
- JERRY NELSON HUGHESPrivate First Class · January 10, 1966
- LEON BOYD SMITH IICaptain · January 12, 1966
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.