The Wall › Panel 43W › Michigan › Elwyn Rex Capling
ELWYN REX CAPLING
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
July 15, 1930 – January 19, 1968
Service recordElwyn Rex Capling, of Detroit, Michigan, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on January 19, 1968, in North Vietnam, at age 37. His name is inscribed on Panel 43W, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43W · Line 33
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 (1115E)
- Born
- July 15, 1930
- Home of record
- Detroit, Michigan (Wayne County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 19, 1968
- Age
- 37
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date January 19, 1968. In January 1968, 1,546 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 43W, Line 33
- ALBERT A BANUELOS JRSergeant · September 19, 1968
- JOSEPH FRANK BIBERSergeant · September 19, 1968
- JOSEPH ADRIAN BISHOPMajor · September 19, 1968
- FRANK OWEN BONNARENSMajor · September 19, 1968
From Detroit
- SAMUEL EUGENE HURDAirman Third Class · January 3, 1964
- LEO BERT ABRAMOSKICaptain · July 28, 1964
- GEORGE PAUL ZUPANCICCorporal · June 26, 1965
- MARSHALL DANIEL HOLMANPrivate First Class · July 9, 1965
- ELIAS BELL JRCorporal · July 13, 1965
- ARTHUR F HAMMARSTROM JRLieutenant Colonel · July 24, 1965
- JAMES THOMAS CLARKPrivate · August 17, 1965
- BRUCE JAMES HENRICHPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- ROBERT TAGLIONESergeant · August 18, 1965
- MERRILL LAGENE LANTRYCorporal · September 2, 1965
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.