The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
An AC-47D “Spooky” gunship fires on a target at night over South Vietnam.
An AC-47D “Spooky” gunship fires on a target at night over South Vietnam. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Derald Dean Swift.

The Wall › Panel 13E › Oregon › Derald Dean Swift

DERALD DEAN SWIFT

Captain · U.S. Air Force

December 14, 1937 – December 7, 1966

Service record

Derald Dean Swift, of Vale, Oregon, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on December 7, 1966, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 28. His name is inscribed on Panel 13E, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 13E · Line 19

Position of Panel 13E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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.

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Service

Branch
U.S. Air Force
Rank
Captain (CAPT)
Service
Regular
Born
December 14, 1937
Home of record
Vale, Oregon (Malheur County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 7, 1966
Age
28
Province
Bien Hoa
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

12 names on the Wall carry the date December 7, 1966; he was the only one lost in Bien Hoa Province that day. In December 1966, 533 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

Read the history

On the Wall

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 13E, Line 19

From Vale

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.