The Wall › Panel 34E › North Dakota › Delbert Austin Olson
DELBERT AUSTIN OLSON
Commander · U.S. Navy
January 4, 1926 – January 11, 1968
Service recordDelbert Austin Olson, of Casselton, North Dakota, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on January 11, 1968, in Laos, at age 42. His name is inscribed on Panel 34E, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 34E · Line 31
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
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- OBSRON 67
- Born
- January 4, 1926
- Home of record
- Casselton, North Dakota (Cass County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 11, 1968
- Age
- 42
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
32 names on the Wall carry the date January 11, 1968. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “OBSRON 67”, his unit in the record, lost 9 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 34E, Line 31
- GERALD MARTIN PINAPrivate First Class · January 11, 1968
- PAUL WAYNE QUICK IIIPrivate First Class · January 11, 1968
- MICHAEL LAND ROBERTSPetty Officer Second Class · January 11, 1968
- GALE ROBERT SIOWPetty Officer Third Class · January 11, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DENIS LEON ANDERSONLieutenant (junior grade) · Panel 34E, Line 27
- ARTHUR CHARLES BUCKLieutenant (junior grade) · Panel 34E, Line 27
- DONALD NELLIS THORESENPetty Officer Second Class · Panel 34E, Line 28
- RICHARD MICHAEL MANCINIPetty Officer Second Class · Panel 34E, Line 30
- MICHAEL LAND ROBERTSPetty Officer Second Class · Panel 34E, Line 31
- GALE ROBERT SIOWPetty Officer Third Class · Panel 34E, Line 31
- PHILIP PAUL STEVENSLieutenant (junior grade) · Panel 34E, Line 32
- KENNETH HARRY WIDONPetty Officer Second Class · Panel 34E, Line 33
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.