The Wall › Panel 6E › Michigan › Ellis Ernest Austin
ELLIS ERNEST AUSTIN
Commander · U.S. Navy
January 6, 1922 – April 21, 1966
Service recordEllis Ernest Austin, of Vermontville, Michigan, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on April 21, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 125 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6E · Line 125
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. Navy
- Rank
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1321)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 85
- Born
- January 6, 1922
- Home of record
- Vermontville, Michigan (Eaton County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 21, 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
11 names on the Wall carry the date April 21, 1966. In April 1966, 406 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 85”, 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 6E, Line 125
- ROBERT CARLIES COTHRANPrivate First Class · February 7, 1966
- GEORGE JOSEPH SKAPINSKYPrivate First Class · April 20, 1966
- GROVER R TAYLORStaff Sergeant · April 20, 1966
- ROY DELANO WATTSSergeant · April 20, 1966
- IVAN JOSEPH BROYLESSergeant · April 21, 1966
Same unit, same day
- JACK ELMER KELLERCaptain · Panel 6E, Line 126
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.