The Wall › Panel 44E › Missouri › John Gary Griffith
JOHN GARY GRIFFITH
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
January 10, 1936 – March 12, 1968
Service recordJohn Gary Griffith, of Kansas City, Missouri, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on March 12, 1968, in North Vietnam, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 29
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
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Naval Flight Officer (1320)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 35 USS ENTERPRISE CVAN 65
- Born
- January 10, 1936
- Home of record
- Kansas City, Missouri (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 12, 1968
- Age
- 32
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 12, 1968. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 35 USS ENTERPRISE CVAN 65”, 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 44E, Line 29
- JEFFERY EVANS MEADLance Corporal · March 12, 1968
- HAROLD METCALFPrivate First Class · March 12, 1968
- DANIEL VICTOR MICHELPrivate First Class · March 12, 1968
- JOSE SANCHEZ MONTEMAYORSpecialist Four · March 12, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GLENN EDWARD KOLLMANNCommander · Panel 44E, Line 27
From Kansas City
- PATRICK PEARSE MANNINGPrivate First Class · July 30, 1965
- FRANK ALLEN GIVENPrivate First Class · August 24, 1965
- MICHAEL STEVENS HARRISPrivate First Class · December 9, 1965
- LESTER A ROGERSFirst Lieutenant · February 28, 1966
- JEROME NIXONPrivate First Class · March 23, 1966
- CHARLES R LAWHONWarrant Officer 1 · May 6, 1966
- JAMES PAUL DEBRULERPrivate First Class · May 21, 1966
- DAYTON WILLIAM RAGLANDColonel · May 31, 1966
- ROBERT WILLIAM PECKPrivate First Class · July 10, 1966
- EUGENE JOLLYSpecialist Five · July 11, 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.