The Wall › Panel 18E › New Mexico › John Smith Hamilton
JOHN SMITH HAMILTON
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
September 3, 1926 – April 19, 1967
Service recordJohn Smith Hamilton, of Silver City, New Mexico, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 19, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 18E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18E · Line 48
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115J)
- Born
- September 3, 1926
- Home of record
- Silver City, New Mexico (Grant County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 19, 1967
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date April 19, 1967. In April 1967, 887 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 18E, Line 48
- JOSEPH LEONARD COLOTTISpecialist Four · April 19, 1967
- ROBERT JOE COPELance Corporal · April 19, 1967
- HARRY LEE ECCARDStaff Sergeant · April 19, 1967
- GILBERT EDWARDSPrivate First Class · April 19, 1967
From Silver City
- EARL GILBERT GRUBBLance Corporal · May 15, 1967
- BOBBY ALLEN TAYLORCorporal · February 3, 1968
- CARLOS CRUZ AGUIRRELance Corporal · February 24, 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.