The Wall › Panel 55W › Tennessee › Donald Francis Casey
DONALD FRANCIS CASEY
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
January 25, 1926 – June 23, 1968
Service recordDonald Francis Casey, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on June 23, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 55W, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 55W · Line 20
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 (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 497 TFS UBON AB
- Born
- January 25, 1926
- Home of record
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (Hamilton County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- June 23, 1968
- 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
26 names on the Wall carry the date June 23, 1968. In June 1968, 1,257 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “497 TFS UBON AB”, 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
On the Wall
Also on Panel 55W, Line 20
- RONALD LEE SHAVERPetty Officer Third Class · June 22, 1968
- TERRY ALLEN JRCorporal · June 23, 1968
- JAMES ERVIN BOOTHMajor · June 23, 1968
- GARY RAY BURNETTELance Corporal · June 23, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES ERVIN BOOTHMajor · Panel 55W, Line 20
From Chattanooga
- JIMMY RICHARD GRIFFINSergeant · March 22, 1963
- GEORGE WILLIS MARTINSergeant First Class · October 11, 1964
- ARTHUR EUGENE NORMANAirman Second Class · January 16, 1965
- GLENN HOWELL KELLEYSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- JAMES T GRAYSergeant · April 24, 1965
- VIRGIL KIRKLAND JRSpecialist Four · November 12, 1965
- KENNETH LEON STANCILChief Warrant Officer 2 · December 28, 1965
- ELIJAH GOAR TOLLETT JRMajor · January 12, 1966
- RAPHNELL J MERONEYSergeant · January 29, 1966
- BILLY BROWN DAYPrivate · February 22, 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.