The Wall › Panel 28W › New Jersey › James Wesley Widdis JR
JAMES WESLEY WIDDIS JR
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
July 3, 1939 – March 23, 1969
Service recordJames Wesley Widdis JR, of Newark, New Jersey, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on March 23, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 28W, Line 22 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 28W · Line 22
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1043L)
- Born
- July 3, 1939
- Home of record
- Newark, New Jersey (Essex County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 23, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
33 names on the Wall carry the date March 23, 1969. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
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 28W, Line 22
- ROBERT ALLEN OSBORNESpecialist Four · March 23, 1969
- ALLEY OAKLEY STEPHENSSpecialist Four · March 23, 1969
- THOMAS MICHAEL STRUCHENSpecialist Four · March 23, 1969
- ROBERT FRANKLIN WHITTENPrivate First Class · March 23, 1969
From Newark
- KELLY KARL HEINZEStaff Sergeant · August 24, 1965
- LEROY WILLIAMS JRPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- RICHARD BURGANSPrivate First Class · October 5, 1965
- SCIP TATESpecialist Four · November 8, 1965
- ROBERT GOINESSergeant · December 5, 1965
- JOHN PRESTON GREENESpecialist Four · December 5, 1965
- WESTOVEL VENABLEPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- ROY RANSOM ALLENPrivate First Class · March 21, 1966
- ARNOLD WOODSONSpecialist Four · April 5, 1966
- DONALD EDWIN SIEGWARTHLieutenant (junior grade) · June 17, 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.