The Wall › Panel 8E › New York › George Gregory Gierak JR
GEORGE GREGORY GIERAK JR
Lieutenant (junior grade) · U.S. Navy
July 25, 1940 – June 13, 1966
Service recordGeorge Gregory Gierak JR, of Springfield, New York, served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy. He died on June 13, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 8E, Line 47 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8E · 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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant (junior grade) (LTJG)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1325)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VAP 61 USS HANCOCK CVA 19
- Born
- July 25, 1940
- Home of record
- Springfield, New York (Otsego County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 13, 1966
- Age
- 25
- 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
15 names on the Wall carry the date June 13, 1966. In June 1966, 595 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VAP 61 USS HANCOCK CVA 19”, his unit in the record, lost 3 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 8E, Line 47
- JOHN TURNER GLANVILLE JRLieutenant Commander · June 13, 1966
- BENNIE RICHARD LAMBTONChief Petty Officer · June 13, 1966
- JOSEPH HERMAN FOREEStaff Sergeant · June 14, 1966
- PAUL MICHAEL HASLINGERLance Corporal · June 14, 1966
Same unit, same day
- JOHN TURNER GLANVILLE JRLieutenant Commander · Panel 8E, Line 47
- BENNIE RICHARD LAMBTONChief Petty Officer · Panel 8E, Line 47
From Springfield
- FRANK MARTIN PIETRASLance Corporal · July 4, 1967
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.