The Wall › Panel 4W › Idaho › Jon Michael Sparks
JON MICHAEL SPARKS
Chief Warrant Officer 2 · U.S. Army
February 24, 1950 – March 19, 1971
Service recordJon Michael Sparks, of Carey, Idaho, served as a Chief Warrant Officer 2 in the U.S. Army. He was lost on March 19, 1971, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 58 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 58
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
- Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Utility/Observation Helicopter Pilot (100B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- February 24, 1950
- Home of record
- Carey, Idaho (Blaine County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 19, 1971
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
Seven names on the Wall carry the date March 19, 1971. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 33 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while Operation Lam Son 719 was under way. In Lam Son 719 (February–March 1971), South Vietnamese troops drove into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, carried and supported by U.S. helicopters and aircraft; more than 100 U.S. helicopters were lost.
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 4W, Line 58
- DAVID ELIZONDOSergeant · March 18, 1971
- RICHARD WILLIAM FORDFirst Lieutenant · March 18, 1971
- FREDERICK LEWIS CRISTMANChief Warrant Officer 3 · March 19, 1971
- RICARDO MARTINEZ GARCIASergeant First Class · March 19, 1971
Same unit, same day
- FREDERICK LEWIS CRISTMANChief Warrant Officer 3 · Panel 4W, Line 58
- RICARDO MARTINEZ GARCIASergeant First Class · Panel 4W, Line 58
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.