The Wall › Panel 32E › Pennsylvania › Gean Preston Clapper
GEAN PRESTON CLAPPER
Chief Master Sergeant · U.S. Air Force
July 24, 1932 – December 29, 1967
Service recordGean Preston Clapper, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 29, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 32E, Line 91 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32E · Line 91
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
- Chief Master Sergeant (CMSGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Airborne Radio And Flight Inspection Technician (29372)
- Unit (as recorded)
- DET 1 314 TAL WG NHA TRANG AB
- Born
- July 24, 1932
- Home of record
- Altoona, Pennsylvania (Blair County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 29, 1967
- 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
41 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1967. In December 1967, 937 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.
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 32E, Line 91
- JON MICHAEL CAPPAERTSecond Lieutenant · December 29, 1967
- CHARLES PETER CLAXTONColonel · December 29, 1967
- HOPSON COVINGTONPrivate First Class · December 29, 1967
- CARLOS RAFAEL CRUZMajor · December 29, 1967
From Altoona
- JOSEPH WILLIAM SCHUSTERCorporal · June 1, 1966
- ALFRED JAMES KIBLERLance Corporal · October 6, 1966
- DENNIS M SPAHNSpecialist Four · December 28, 1966
- WILLIAM JOEL RICKMANPrivate First Class · April 3, 1967
- EDWARD PHILIP SZEYLLERLieutenant · April 4, 1967
- JAMES EDWARD CAREYLance Corporal · April 21, 1967
- ROBERT CARL DAMBECKMaster Sergeant · July 7, 1967
- NICHOLAS CHARLES BIANCONICorporal · July 24, 1967
- SHELDON D SCHULTZChief Warrant Officer 3 · January 5, 1968
- CLARENCE JAMES CLAYCOMBStaff Sergeant · January 13, 1968
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.