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 John David Cayce.

The Wall › Panel 29E › Texas › John David Cayce

JOHN DAVID CAYCE

Seaman · U.S. Navy

August 20, 1946 – November 12, 1967

Service record

John David Cayce, of San Antonio, Texas, served as a Seaman in the U.S. Navy. He died on November 12, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 29E, Line 80 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 29E · Line 80

Position of Panel 29E 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
Seaman (SN)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Seaman (SN)
Unit (as recorded)
USS WILLIAM V PRATT DLG 13
Born
August 20, 1946
Home of record
San Antonio, Texas (Bexar County)

Casualty

Date of death
November 12, 1967
Age
21
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Drowning
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

37 names on the Wall carry the date November 12, 1967. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “USS WILLIAM V PRATT DLG 13”, 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.

Also on Panel 29E, Line 80

Same unit, same day

From San Antonio

All 287 names from San Antonio →

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.