The Wall › Panel 1E › Connecticut › Gerald Wayne McKinley
GERALD WAYNE MCKINLEY
Lieutenant (junior grade) · U.S. Navy
May 22, 1940 – March 31, 1965
Service recordGerald Wayne McKinley, of Danbury, Connecticut, served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy. He died on March 31, 1965, in North Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 1E, Line 99 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1E · Line 99
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 (1315)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 215 USS HANCOCK CVA 19
- Born
- May 22, 1940
- Home of record
- Danbury, Connecticut (Fairfield County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 31, 1965
- Age
- 24
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date March 31, 1965. In March 1965, 22 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 1E, Line 99
- GERALD CARL CAPELLECaptain · April 1, 1965
- ZLATKO M FAKINStaff Sergeant · April 1, 1965
- JERRY WAYNE OSBORNPrivate First Class · April 1, 1965
- WAYNE CARL SIMMONSSpecialist Five · April 1, 1965
From Danbury
- JOHN KEARNAN CLARKELance Corporal · March 6, 1967
- BARNEY JOE KELLYSpecialist Four · March 19, 1967
- LAWRENCE GUY VISCONTIPrivate First Class · May 2, 1967
- VERNON HOWARD BAKER IICorporal · June 18, 1967
- RICHARD OLIVER BICKFORDFirst Lieutenant · October 18, 1968
- RUSSELL JOSEPH ROTKO JRPrivate · October 30, 1968
- MICHAEL MELVIN FARMERCorporal · November 5, 1968
- RICHARD C BENICEWICZCaptain · March 21, 1969
- THOMAS JUDD TYRELLSergeant · March 30, 1969
- JAMES GERALD FLYNNStaff Sergeant · May 31, 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.