The Wall › Panel 17E › Tennessee › David Richard Williams
DAVID RICHARD WILLIAMS
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
July 8, 1929 – April 1, 1967
Service recordDavid Richard Williams, of Memphis, Tennessee, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 1, 1967, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 17E, Line 90 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17E · Line 90
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 606 ACS
- Born
- July 8, 1929
- Home of record
- Memphis, Tennessee (Shelby County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 1, 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
37 names on the Wall carry the date April 1, 1967. In April 1967, 887 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “606 ACS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
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.
Also on Panel 17E, Line 90
- JAMES LE ROY WEHRPrivate First Class · April 1, 1967
- JOHN B WOBLEPrivate · April 1, 1967
- RAYMOND A AUSTERMANN JRPrivate First Class · April 2, 1967
- BARRY WAYNE BRICKEYLance Corporal · April 2, 1967
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT ALLEN GOVANColonel · Panel 17E, Line 85
From Memphis
- JESSE ALEXANDER GRAYSergeant First Class · June 12, 1964
- ANDREW DAYTON PARKER JRMajor · June 18, 1965
- JOHN CARLOS HARRISSergeant · July 21, 1965
- WALTER LEWIS SMITHPrivate First Class · August 19, 1965
- CLAUDE TALBERT JRPrivate First Class · October 8, 1965
- WILLIAM CLYDE HARPERSergeant · October 10, 1965
- DANIEL DAVID HARDENSergeant · November 1, 1965
- RANDLE TOM WOODSLance Corporal · November 6, 1965
- KELLY EUGENE WHITAKERPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- MELVIN FRANK FORTSpecialist Four · November 17, 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.