The Wall › Panel 1W › West Virginia › Clayton Mitch Blankenship
CLAYTON MITCH BLANKENSHIP
Petty Officer Second Class · U.S. Navy
September 27, 1943 – October 24, 1972
Service recordClayton Mitch Blankenship, of Fayetteville, West Virginia, served as a Petty Officer Second Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on October 24, 1972, in North Vietnam, at age 29. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 83
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. Navy
- Rank
- Petty Officer Second Class (PO2)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Aviation Ordnanceman (AO)
- Born
- September 27, 1943
- Home of record
- Fayetteville, West Virginia (Fayette County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 24, 1972
- Age
- 29
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
Five names on the Wall carry the date October 24, 1972. In October 1972, 65 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The record places this loss in North Vietnam, outside South Vietnam — most often the sign of an air crew lost over the North or the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 1W, Line 83
- AUBREY ELDON NOBLESSergeant First Class · October 17, 1972
- MICHAEL SARGENT BIXELLieutenant (junior grade) · October 24, 1972
- DANIEL PARKS CHERRYAirman · October 24, 1972
- ROBERT ALLEN YANKOSKIAirman Apprentice · October 24, 1972
From Fayetteville
- THEODORE SHAMBLINStaff Sergeant · November 11, 1965
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.