The Wall › Panel 6E › Vermont › John Wayne Lafayette
JOHN WAYNE LAFAYETTE
Major · U.S. Army
August 1, 1939 – April 6, 1966
Service recordJohn Wayne Lafayette, of Waterbury, Vermont, served as a Major in the U.S. Army. He was lost on April 6, 1966, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 90 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6E · Line 90
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. Army
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Operations And Training Staff Officer (G3,a3,s3) (2162)
- Unit (as recorded)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- August 1, 1939
- Home of record
- Waterbury, Vermont (Washington County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 6, 1966
- Country
- Laos
- 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
17 names on the Wall carry the date April 6, 1966. In April 1966, 406 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
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 6E, Line 90
- ROBERT ALAN KREUZIGERPrivate First Class · April 6, 1966
- JOHN EDGAR LITTLEPrivate First Class · April 6, 1966
- JAMES PHILLIP MCELHANNONLance Corporal · April 6, 1966
- WALTER FRANK ORLEYLance Corporal · April 6, 1966
Same unit, same day
- JAMES WAYNE GATESLieutenant Colonel · Panel 6E, Line 89
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.