The Wall › Panel 14E › California › Gary Gene Wright
GARY GENE WRIGHT
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
November 20, 1930 – January 17, 1967
Service recordGary Gene Wright, of San Diego, California, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on January 17, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 14E, Line 47 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 14E · Line 47
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1323F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 TRS
- Born
- November 20, 1930
- Home of record
- San Diego, California (San Diego County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 17, 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
25 names on the Wall carry the date January 17, 1967. In January 1967, 638 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “11 TRS”, 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
Also on Panel 14E, Line 47
- JESUS MAGIN ARCHULETAPrivate First Class · January 18, 1967
- GARY O BRENNANPrivate First Class · January 18, 1967
- ROGER SMITH BRYANTPrivate First Class · January 18, 1967
- JOHN WESLEY FERRELLPrivate First Class · January 18, 1967
Same unit, same day
- FREDERICK JOSEPH WOZNIAKMajor · Panel 14E, Line 46
From San Diego
- STANLEY E TRUESDALEStaff Sergeant · April 12, 1963
- CLARENCE CLEMENT TESSMANCaptain · August 10, 1963
- WILLIAM CLIFTON HOOVERPetty Officer Second Class · June 10, 1965
- VIRGIL WAYNE BARTONLance Corporal · August 21, 1965
- CHARLES JOSEPH SCHARFColonel · October 1, 1965
- KENNETH JOE HAMMONDSpecialist Four · November 22, 1965
- RICHARD EUGENE GEORGEPrivate First Class · November 23, 1965
- GERALD CLYDE LYMANPrivate First Class · February 2, 1966
- JOHN JOSEPH SOLLEYLance Corporal · February 8, 1966
- DONALD D DAUGHERTYStaff Sergeant · April 13, 1966
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.