The Wall › Panel 4E › Arizona › Derrell Blackbur Jeffords
DERRELL BLACKBUR JEFFORDS
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
August 10, 1925 – December 24, 1965
Service recordDerrell Blackbur Jeffords, of Phoenix, Arizona, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 24, 1965, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 4E, Line 37 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4E · Line 37
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1043Z)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 AIR CMDO SQ TDY 6250 CBTSU
- Born
- August 10, 1925
- Home of record
- Phoenix, Arizona (Maricopa County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 24, 1965
- Country
- Laos
- 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
11 names on the Wall carry the date December 24, 1965. In December 1965, 326 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “4 AIR CMDO SQ TDY 6250 CBTSU”, his unit in the record, lost 6 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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 4E, Line 37
- JAMES LOUIS DOUSEPrivate First Class · December 24, 1965
- DENNIS LEE EILERSCaptain · December 24, 1965
- ARDEN KEITH HASSENGERChief Master Sergeant · December 24, 1965
- GEORGE ELDON JOHNSTONSergeant · December 24, 1965
Same unit, same day
- JOSEPH CHRISTIANOColonel · Panel 4E, Line 36
- WILLIAM KEVIN COLWELLChief Master Sergeant · Panel 4E, Line 36
- DENNIS LEE EILERSCaptain · Panel 4E, Line 37
- ARDEN KEITH HASSENGERChief Master Sergeant · Panel 4E, Line 37
- LARRY C THORNTONChief Master Sergeant · Panel 4E, Line 38
From Phoenix
- DURWARD DEAN GOSNEYMajor · October 7, 1964
- CHARLES ALVA DALEMajor · June 9, 1965
- WILBURN DANIEL FELKINSCorporal · July 30, 1965
- LEE E ANDERSONSergeant · September 19, 1965
- JOHNNY HOWARD GODFREYCaptain · January 11, 1966
- GEORGE A HOAGLAND IIIStaff Sergeant · January 29, 1966
- JACK LANDEN HIMESPrivate First Class · February 26, 1966
- ROY JOHN HIGGINS JRCorporal · March 5, 1966
- DARRELL LEE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · March 5, 1966
- WILLIAM O GOSSETTPrivate First Class · March 16, 1966
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.