The Wall › Panel 1W › Kansas › Gary Leslie Shank
GARY LESLIE SHANK
Lieutenant · U.S. Navy
March 16, 1947 – July 23, 1972
Service recordGary Leslie Shank, of Prairie Village, Kansas, served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on July 23, 1972, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 59
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant (LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1315)
- Born
- March 16, 1947
- Home of record
- Prairie Village, Kansas (Johnson County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- July 23, 1972
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date July 23, 1972. In July 1972, 53 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
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 1W, Line 59
- RONNIE LEE GIPSONSpecialist Four · July 23, 1972
- LARRY FRANK JAGARDFirst Lieutenant · July 26, 1972
- HAROLD MCCASLIN JRWarrant Officer 1 · July 26, 1972
- OSCAR HERRGESELLLieutenant Colonel · July 29, 1972
From Prairie Village
- JAMES MALCOLM ARBUTHNOTSpecialist Four · March 30, 1966
- ROBERT JOHN GROTHAUS IIPrivate First Class · May 14, 1968
- FREDERICK E HUTTIE IIIStaff Sergeant · August 15, 1970
- RANDY DAVID RAYPrivate First Class · December 5, 1970
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.