The Wall › Panel 33E › North Dakota › Gordon James Wenaas
GORDON JAMES WENAAS
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
March 2, 1932 – December 29, 1967
Service recordGordon James Wenaas, of Mayville, North Dakota, served as a Lieutenant Colonel 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 33E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 33E · Line 1
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Navigator (1535Z)
- Unit (as recorded)
- DET 1 314 TAW
- Born
- March 2, 1932
- Home of record
- Mayville, North Dakota (Traill 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.
The unit recorded as “DET 1 314 TAW”, his unit in the record, lost 7 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 33E, Line 1
- JAMES RANDALL WILLIAMSSenior Master Sergeant · December 29, 1967
- GERALD WAYNE ZIYPrivate First Class · December 29, 1967
- DAVE MARTIN BARTHOLOMEWPrivate First Class · December 30, 1967
- MICHAEL ALLEN STROSHANESpecialist Four · December 30, 1967
Same unit, same day
- DONALD ELLIS FISHERColonel · Panel 32E, Line 93
- JACK MCCRARYChief Master Sergeant · Panel 32E, Line 95
- EDWIN NELMS OSBORNE JRLieutenant Colonel · Panel 32E, Line 96
- FRANK C PARKER IIIMajor · Panel 32E, Line 96
- GERALD GORDON VANBURENLieutenant Colonel · Panel 32E, Line 97
- JAMES RANDALL WILLIAMSSenior Master Sergeant · Panel 33E, Line 1
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.