The Wall › Panel 11W › Illinois › John Cline Towle
JOHN CLINE TOWLE
Captain · U.S. Air Force
January 9, 1943 – April 22, 1970
Service recordJohn Cline Towle, of Harrisburg, Illinois, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 22, 1970, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 11W, Line 39 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 11W · Line 39
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1043J)
- Born
- January 9, 1943
- Home of record
- Harrisburg, Illinois (Saline County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 22, 1970
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date April 22, 1970. In April 1970, 730 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 11W, Line 39
- RICHARD MICHAEL SPEERFirst Lieutenant · April 22, 1970
- JAMES NELSON VARANSKYPrivate First Class · April 22, 1970
- GEORGE MICHAEL WALLFirst Lieutenant · April 22, 1970
- HAROLD EDWARD BASEHORE JRFirst Lieutenant · April 23, 1970
From Harrisburg
- DAVID LEE HALLFireman · November 1, 1966
- GLENDELL EUGENE YATESTechnical Sergeant · November 20, 1966
- VERNON EUGENE BELCHERSpecialist Four · July 31, 1968
- TOMMY LEE BARNESSpecialist Five · March 23, 1969
- RUSSELL LOWELL WILLIAMSSergeant · June 22, 1970
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.