The Wall › Panel 20E › California › James Kelly Patterson
JAMES KELLY PATTERSON
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
July 14, 1940 – May 19, 1967
Service recordJames Kelly Patterson, of Long Beach, California, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on May 19, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 20E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 20E · Line 48
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 Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Naval Flight Officer (1320)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 35
- Born
- July 14, 1940
- Home of record
- Long Beach, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 19, 1967
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Captured / prisoner of war
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
69 names on the Wall carry the date May 19, 1967. In May 1967, 1,396 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 20E, Line 48
- JOSEPH M GRANTHAM IIIPrivate First Class · May 19, 1967
- PAUL WAYNE RATLIFFCorporal · May 19, 1967
- ALAN THOMAS READPrivate First Class · May 19, 1967
- CHARLES RUSSELL RHUEPrivate First Class · May 19, 1967
From Long Beach
- PETER ANTHONY SEMMERPrivate First Class · February 11, 1965
- RICHARD GRAHAM ALLENPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- IVAN JOSEPH BROYLESSergeant · April 21, 1966
- RICHARD EYRE CROWELance Corporal · May 29, 1966
- FRANZ GERHARD PREDIGERSpecialist Four · June 30, 1966
- ANTHONY ROBERT BOSHPrivate First Class · September 7, 1966
- GERALD JOHNSONPrivate First Class · November 15, 1966
- MICHAEL PAUL MCCONAHAYPrivate First Class · November 23, 1966
- EDMOND SANMARCOSPrivate First Class · December 19, 1966
- MARSHAL LYNN HORTONSpecialist Four · December 25, 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.