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F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Joseph Shaw Ross.

The Wall › Panel 50W › Kentucky › Joseph Shaw Ross

JOSEPH SHAW ROSS

Captain · U.S. Air Force

January 26, 1943 – August 1, 1968

Service record

Joseph Shaw Ross, of Ft Thomas, Kentucky, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on August 1, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 50W, Line 45 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 50W · Line 45

Position of Panel 50W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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.

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Service

Branch
U.S. Air Force
Rank
Captain (CAPT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Pilot (1115R)
Unit (as recorded)
389 TFS
Born
January 26, 1943
Home of record
Ft Thomas, Kentucky (Campbell County)

Casualty

Date of loss
August 1, 1968
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

34 names on the Wall carry the date August 1, 1968. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “389 TFS”, 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

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 50W, Line 45

Same unit, same day

From Ft Thomas

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.