The Wall › Panel 17E › Utah › John Cooley Ellison
JOHN COOLEY ELLISON
Captain · U.S. Navy
December 16, 1928 – March 24, 1967
Service recordJohn Cooley Ellison, of Layton, Utah, served as a Captain in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on March 24, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 17E, Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17E · Line 35
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 85
- Born
- December 16, 1928
- Home of record
- Layton, Utah (Davis County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 24, 1967
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
39 names on the Wall carry the date March 24, 1967. In March 1967, 1,091 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 85”, his unit in the record, lost 2 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 17E, Line 35
- SAMUEL GALLMAN IIILance Corporal · March 24, 1967
- ROGER C HALLBERGSergeant First Class · March 24, 1967
- FRANK RODNEY HOLLANDCorporal · March 24, 1967
- WILLIAM BYARD HOLLOWELLCaptain · March 24, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JAMES EDWIN PLOWMANLieutenant Commander · Panel 17E, Line 39
From Layton
- ALLEN BRUCE GLINESPrivate First Class · January 3, 1968
- THOMAS HARVEY SCHOFIELDPrivate First Class · May 2, 1968
- KENNETH WAYNE ECKMANCorporal · July 10, 1968
- JESSE BRENT STEVENSONFirst Lieutenant · March 9, 1969
- TED PIERCESpecialist Four · October 10, 1969
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.