The Wall › Panel 2E › Illinois › James Alvin Branch
JAMES ALVIN BRANCH
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
April 6, 1934 – September 4, 1965
Service recordJames Alvin Branch, of Park Forest, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on September 4, 1965, in North Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 75 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2E · Line 75
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
- Born
- April 6, 1934
- Home of record
- Park Forest, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 4, 1965
- Age
- 31
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
Three names on the Wall carry the date September 4, 1965. In September 1965, 150 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 2E, Line 75
- EUGENE MILLARD JEWELLCaptain · September 4, 1965
- WILLIE ELSWORTH H HONAKERSpecialist Four · September 5, 1965
- LAWRENCE EDWARD JACKSONSergeant · September 5, 1965
- WILLIAM JOHN LAGRANDChief Warrant Officer 2 · September 5, 1965
From Park Forest
- JOHN TERRENCE KINGLance Corporal · March 23, 1967
- RODNEY OWEN DAVIEWarrant Officer 1 · July 31, 1967
- ROBERT WILLIAM GRANTSpecialist Four · April 15, 1968
- JOSEPH J PASSAVANTI IIICorporal · May 24, 1968
- JOHN ARTHUR LABUNDYSergeant · June 17, 1968
- GARY ROBERT MCHUGHPrivate First Class · October 29, 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.