The Wall › Panel 21E › Illinois › John Willard Swanson JR
JOHN WILLARD SWANSON JR
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
April 1, 1938 – June 15, 1967
Service recordJohn Willard Swanson JR, of Arlington, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on June 15, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 21E, Line 109 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 21E · Line 109
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 388 TFS
- Born
- April 1, 1938
- Home of record
- Arlington, Illinois (Bureau County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- June 15, 1967
- Country
- North Vietnam
- 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
38 names on the Wall carry the date June 15, 1967. In June 1967, 948 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 21E, Line 109
- LOUIS JAMES PURDYPrivate First Class · June 15, 1967
- JOHN CLARENCE SHAMELLance Corporal · June 15, 1967
- VALENTINO TAUAESESpecialist Five · June 15, 1967
- FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT THORPELance Corporal · June 15, 1967
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.