The Wall › Panel 29E › Virginia › James David Roark
JAMES DAVID ROARK
Petty Officer Second Class · U.S. Navy
December 9, 1941 – November 12, 1967
Service recordJames David Roark, of Abingdon, Virginia, served as a Petty Officer Second Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on November 12, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 29E, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29E · Line 85
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
- Petty Officer Second Class (PO2)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- USS WILLIAM V PRATT DLG 13
- Born
- December 9, 1941
- Home of record
- Abingdon, Virginia (Washington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 12, 1967
- Age
- 25
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
37 names on the Wall carry the date November 12, 1967. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “USS WILLIAM V PRATT DLG 13”, his unit in the record, lost 2 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
Also on Panel 29E, Line 85
- ANTONIO RAMON PONCEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1967
- SYLVESTER STANLEY SAGANSergeant · November 12, 1967
- ELZIE SANDERS JRSpecialist Four · November 12, 1967
- BILLY GENE SMITHSpecialist Four · November 12, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JOHN DAVID CAYCESeaman · Panel 29E, Line 80
From Abingdon
- ROBERT MORRIS COOKEPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- HENRY GLEAVES CRIGGERCorporal · November 15, 1967
- LEONARD HARRISON SNEAD JRPrivate First Class · January 11, 1968
- JAMES PERRY SINGLETONSergeant · March 8, 1968
- GEORGE JOSE COXStaff Sergeant · March 14, 1968
- CHARLES E SHAWSpecialist Four · March 30, 1968
- THOMAS WILLIAM WHITTENCorporal · March 21, 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.