The Wall › Panel 25E › Wisconsin › Donald William Downing
DONALD WILLIAM DOWNING
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
March 17, 1934 – September 5, 1967
Service recordDonald William Downing, of Janesville, Wisconsin, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 5, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 25E, Line 113 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 25E · Line 113
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 555 TFS 12 TFW
- Born
- March 17, 1934
- Home of record
- Janesville, Wisconsin (Rock County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 5, 1967
- 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
33 names on the Wall carry the date September 5, 1967. In September 1967, 929 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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
Also on Panel 25E, Line 113
- WILLIAM ROBERT BRENNANPrivate First Class · September 5, 1967
- DIETER HANS BURGERStaff Sergeant · September 5, 1967
- ELMER DON BYRDSpecialist Four · September 5, 1967
- DAVID CALVITTISpecialist Four · September 5, 1967
From Janesville
- WILLIAM JOSEPH SCHNEIDERSpecialist Four · December 1, 1966
- ROBERT ALLEN MCCARTNEYSergeant · April 15, 1967
- VINCENT JAMES AGIUSLance Corporal · April 17, 1967
- RALPH MICHAEL WIXSONPrivate First Class · May 16, 1967
- JOHN MCFARLAND KESSINGERMajor · July 2, 1967
- JOHN JUNIOR FIEDLERPetty Officer First Class · July 29, 1967
- DAVID LEE DROUGHTSergeant · December 31, 1967
- HARRY WARREN SCHNEIDERCorporal · February 16, 1968
- TIMOTHY CHARLES AGARDSpecialist Four · February 19, 1968
- JEFFERY EVANS MEADLance Corporal · March 12, 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.