The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of James Patrick Shea.

The Wall › Panel 1E › California › James Patrick Shea

JAMES PATRICK SHEA

Lieutenant (junior grade) · U.S. Navy

August 18, 1940 – April 20, 1965

Service record

James Patrick Shea, of Burlingame, California, served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy. He died on April 20, 1965, in North Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 1E, Line 106 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 1E · Line 106

Position of Panel 1E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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 (junior grade) (LTJG)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Url Pilot (1315)
Unit (as recorded)
VA 215 USS HANCOCK CVA 19
Born
August 18, 1940
Home of record
Burlingame, California (San Mateo County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 20, 1965
Age
24
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

Two names on the Wall carry the date April 20, 1965. In April 1965, 61 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.

Also on Panel 1E, Line 106

From Burlingame

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.