The Wall › Panel 2E › Kansas › Dean Albert Klenda
DEAN ALBERT KLENDA
Major · U.S. Air Force
August 20, 1940 – September 17, 1965
Service recordDean Albert Klenda, of Manhattan, Kansas, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 17, 1965, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2E · Line 85
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
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 67 TFS
- Born
- August 20, 1940
- Home of record
- Manhattan, Kansas (Riley County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 17, 1965
- 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
Three names on the Wall carry the date September 17, 1965. In September 1965, 150 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “67 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
Also on Panel 2E, Line 85
- A L PARKSSpecialist Four · September 16, 1965
- EDUARDO CAMARENA-SALAZARPrivate First Class · September 17, 1965
- GEORGE A WESTMaster Sergeant · September 17, 1965
- ROBERT FRANKLIN BARBERLieutenant · September 18, 1965
From Manhattan
- BARTON WAINWRIGHT CAREYPrivate First Class · March 26, 1968
- EDWARD THEODORE GORMAN IIICorporal · May 16, 1968
- DAVID GEORGE BRENNERMajor · June 13, 1968
- LEO LARRY HADLEYFirst Lieutenant · August 14, 1968
- ROGER ALAN PARRISHFirst Lieutenant · June 10, 1969
- BILLY RAYMOND CHADWICKSpecialist Four · June 17, 1969
- PHILIP JAMES ENLOWSpecialist Five · November 1, 1969
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.