The Wall › Panel 32W › Iowa › Donald Elmer Paxton
DONALD ELMER PAXTON
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
October 3, 1928 – February 22, 1969
Service recordDonald Elmer Paxton, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on February 22, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 32W, Line 82 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32W · Line 82
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
- Unit (as recorded)
- 8 TBS 35 TFW
- Born
- October 3, 1928
- Home of record
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Linn County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- February 22, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
61 names on the Wall carry the date February 22, 1969. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “8 TBS 35 TFW”, 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 32W, Line 82
- WAYNE EDWARD PEARSONMajor · February 22, 1969
- DAVID JOHN PELLOSMALance Corporal · February 22, 1969
- JOSEPH HOWARD PIERCE JRSergeant · February 22, 1969
- RICHARD POLLARDPrivate First Class · February 22, 1969
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES MACKOColonel · Panel 32W, Line 80
From Cedar Rapids
- ROBERT MILVOY HORSKYMajor · December 11, 1965
- DENNIS LEE EILERSCaptain · December 24, 1965
- JAMES PHILLIP SCHIMBERGSpecialist Four · January 9, 1966
- MARK LEO ENGLISHSpecialist Four · December 18, 1966
- JOHN WALTER WALLCorporal · April 21, 1967
- CHARLES EDWARD GRADOVILLELance Corporal · June 16, 1967
- WAYNE FRANK WHITEMANLance Corporal · October 22, 1967
- HOWARD EMERSON HANSON JRSpecialist Four · January 8, 1968
- CURTIS DEAN SNITKERCorporal · February 1, 1968
- DANIEL JAMES KAPLANLance Corporal · February 7, 1968
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.