The Wall › Panel 4E › Texas › Erwin Benard Templin JR
ERWIN BENARD TEMPLIN JR
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
December 24, 1940 – January 22, 1966
Service recordErwin Benard Templin JR, of Houston, Texas, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on January 22, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 4E, Line 83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4E · Line 83
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
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VS 35
- Born
- December 24, 1940
- Home of record
- Houston, Texas (Harris County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 22, 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
Seven names on the Wall carry the date January 22, 1966. In January 1966, 401 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VS 35”, his unit in the record, lost 4 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
Also on Panel 4E, Line 83
- EDMUND HENRY FRENYEAMaster Chief Petty Officer · January 22, 1966
- ROBERT RUSSELL SENNETTSenior Chief Petty Officer · January 22, 1966
- DAVID HENRY ELISOVSKYSergeant · January 23, 1966
- JOHN WILLIAM ROWLAND JRCorporal · January 23, 1966
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM STANNARD FORMANLieutenant Commander · Panel 4E, Line 82
- EDMUND HENRY FRENYEAMaster Chief Petty Officer · Panel 4E, Line 83
- ROBERT RUSSELL SENNETTSenior Chief Petty Officer · Panel 4E, Line 83
From Houston
- JOSEPH MICHAEL FAHEY JRCaptain · February 11, 1962
- JOHN F SHAUGHNESSY JRCaptain · February 3, 1963
- RICHARD DALE HILLAirman Second Class · December 6, 1963
- HUGHIE DARELL ADAMSMajor · January 7, 1964
- ALBERT LAWRENCE SHIMEKPrivate First Class · April 10, 1964
- BYRON CLARK STONECaptain · August 20, 1964
- JAMES EDWARD HAVEMANNWarrant Officer 1 · October 7, 1964
- ROBERT GRAHAM BELLMajor · May 16, 1965
- LEROY ANTHONY BOURGEOISPrivate First Class · June 18, 1965
- ROBERT FILMORE BATSONSergeant · August 18, 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.