The Wall › Panel 7E › Michigan › Donald Lewis King
DONALD LEWIS KING
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
August 28, 1933 – May 14, 1966
Service recordDonald Lewis King, of Muskegon, Michigan, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on May 14, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 7E, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 7E · Line 59
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
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 433 TFS
- Born
- August 28, 1933
- Home of record
- Muskegon, Michigan (Muskegon County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 14, 1966
- 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
16 names on the Wall carry the date May 14, 1966. In May 1966, 595 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “433 TFS”, 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 7E, Line 59
- STANLEY JOHN KOPCINSKILance Corporal · May 14, 1966
- JOSEPH EMMETT LILLEYPrivate First Class · May 14, 1966
- GEORGE JACOB MACKPrivate First Class · May 14, 1966
- PAUL WILLIAM MALECSergeant · May 14, 1966
Same unit, same day
- FRANK DELZELL RALSTON IIIMajor · Panel 7E, Line 60
From Muskegon
- LOUIS KENNETH KANAARCaptain · January 9, 1966
- RICHARD NORMAN GEREAUCaptain · March 5, 1966
- JAMES ALLEN TAZELAARPrivate First Class · June 28, 1966
- DANIEL LEE EARLENBAUGHSpecialist Four · August 26, 1966
- ROBERT GAYLE DAVISONSergeant · December 17, 1966
- JAMES HARVEY HOPSONPrivate First Class · March 21, 1967
- ANTONIO RAMON PONCEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1967
- GERALD RAY HENDRICKSONCorporal · November 26, 1967
- DAVID ORVILLE KAMPCorporal · December 27, 1967
- BERNARD JOHN NOVAKStaff Sergeant · February 22, 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.