The Wall › Panel 12E › Alabama › James Gradey Jones
JAMES GRADEY JONES
Lieutenant (junior grade) · U.S. Navy
August 14, 1939 – November 12, 1966
Service recordJames Gradey Jones, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy. He died on November 12, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 27. His name is inscribed on Panel 12E, Line 63 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 12E · Line 63
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant (junior grade) (LTJG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 12 USS ROOSEVELT CVA 42
- Born
- August 14, 1939
- Home of record
- Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 12, 1966
- Age
- 27
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
38 names on the Wall carry the date November 12, 1966. In November 1966, 641 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 12 USS ROOSEVELT CVA 42”, 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 12E, Line 63
- JAMES OLIVER HUGHESSergeant · November 12, 1966
- JOHN AUGUST MCGRATHLance Corporal · November 12, 1966
- CHARLES EDWARD MEEKLance Corporal · November 12, 1966
- DAVID HENRY PAULSENPrivate First Class · November 12, 1966
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT CLARENCE FROSIOCommander · Panel 12E, Line 61
From Birmingham
- SHERMAN ELLIOT WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · July 9, 1965
- CARL WILLIAM MANNPrivate First Class · September 21, 1965
- ROBERT WARREN ALLENPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- GENE WILLIAM WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · October 12, 1965
- JAMES J HOWARDSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- CLEO LOCKETTCorporal · November 8, 1965
- HAROLD JAMES BATTLEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1965
- HAROLD EUGENE WATKINSLance Corporal · November 12, 1965
- CHARLES WILLIAM STOREYStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD EARL HARPERSpecialist Four · January 12, 1966
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.