The Wall › Panel 6W › Michigan › John Frank Szlapa III
JOHN FRANK SZLAPA III
Petty Officer Third Class · U.S. Navy
April 2, 1950 – December 15, 1970
Service recordJohn Frank Szlapa III, of Mt Clemens, Michigan, served as a Petty Officer Third Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on December 15, 1970, in North Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 6W, Line 124 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6W · Line 124
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
- Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Aviation Structural Mech (Structures) (AMS)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 7 FLT
- Born
- April 2, 1950
- Home of record
- Mt Clemens, Michigan (Macomb County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- December 15, 1970
- Age
- 20
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
11 names on the Wall carry the date December 15, 1970. In December 1970, 271 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “7 FLT”, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
The record places this loss in North Vietnam, outside South Vietnam — most often the sign of an air crew lost over the North or the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 6W, Line 124
- THOMAS DUDLEY YOUNGSergeant · December 15, 1970
- ROBERT THOMAS CALLANSpecialist Four · December 16, 1970
- JOSEPH JOHN DANNA JRChief Warrant Officer 2 · December 16, 1970
- GARY J FACULAKFirst Lieutenant · December 16, 1970
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM STEVEN STEWARTPetty Officer Second Class · Panel 6W, Line 123
From Mt Clemens
- JERRY LEE ROBERTSCorporal · September 1, 1965
- TERENCE RONALD TANGENPrivate · June 10, 1966
- FRANK J KREBSPrivate First Class · January 17, 1967
- SAMUEL DWIGHT THOMPSONPrivate First Class · February 6, 1967
- ELMER FRED KEPSELPrivate First Class · February 16, 1967
- FREDERICK CARMEN KUNNACorporal · March 20, 1967
- MARIANO LEIJA JRCorporal · May 12, 1967
- ROBERT ALAN HANSELMANSpecialist Four · December 22, 1967
- MARVIN HAROLD JONES JRPrivate First Class · January 31, 1968
- DAVID MICHAEL DROBFirst Lieutenant · July 22, 1968
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.