The Wall › Panel 6E › Virginia › Frank Ray Compton
FRANK RAY COMPTON
Lieutenant · U.S. Navy
January 11, 1936 – March 21, 1966
Service recordFrank Ray Compton, of Chatham, Virginia, served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He died on March 21, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6E · Line 29
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 (LT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 94 USS ENTERPRISE CVAN 65
- Born
- January 11, 1936
- Home of record
- Chatham, Virginia (Pittsylvania County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 21, 1966
- Age
- 30
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
48 names on the Wall carry the date March 21, 1966. In March 1966, 564 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 94 USS ENTERPRISE CVAN 65”, 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 29
- ROBERT GUY BROWNLance Corporal · March 21, 1966
- DAVID GEORGE CALLISLance Corporal · March 21, 1966
- CALVIN KEALOHAOKALAN CHOWGunnery Sergeant · March 21, 1966
- WILLARD JOHN FRIESEPrivate First Class · March 21, 1966
Same unit, same day
- JOHN MARK TIDERMANLieutenant Commander · Panel 6E, Line 35
From Chatham
- CHARLES EDWARD BLAIRColonel · March 19, 1968
- ROBERT DUVAL OWENSergeant First Class · May 23, 1968
- JAMES LLOYD BROOKSSpecialist Four · November 21, 1968
- DAVID DANIEL LAYNESpecialist Four · March 7, 1969
- FRANCIS MCLAUGHLINPrivate First Class · August 18, 1969
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.