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 Randall Williams.

The Wall › Panel 33E › North Carolina › James Randall Williams

JAMES RANDALL WILLIAMS

Senior Master Sergeant · U.S. Air Force

March 28, 1945 – December 29, 1967

Service record

James Randall Williams, of Charlotte, North Carolina, served as a Senior Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 29, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 33E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 33E · Line 1

Position of Panel 33E 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. Air Force
Rank
Senior Master Sergeant (SMSGT)
Service
Regular
Unit (as recorded)
DET 1 314 TAW
Born
March 28, 1945
Home of record
Charlotte, North Carolina (Mecklenburg County)

Casualty

Date of loss
December 29, 1967
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Declared Dead
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
First reported
Missing in action

Context · from the records

What was happening

41 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1967. In December 1967, 937 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “DET 1 314 TAW”, his unit in the record, lost 7 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.

Also on Panel 33E, Line 1

Same unit, same day

From Charlotte

All 88 names from Charlotte →

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.