The Wall › Panel 16W › Oregon › Joseph Ygnacio Echanis
JOSEPH YGNACIO ECHANIS
Major · U.S. Air Force
October 6, 1937 – November 5, 1969
Service recordJoseph Ygnacio Echanis, of Portland, Oregon, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on November 5, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 33
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
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Weapon Systems Officer (1555C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 497 TFS
- Born
- October 6, 1937
- Home of record
- Portland, Oregon (Multnomah County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- November 5, 1969
- 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
19 names on the Wall carry the date November 5, 1969. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “497 TFS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 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
Also on Panel 16W, Line 33
- FRED JOSHUA CARTERFirst Lieutenant · November 5, 1969
- PATRICK JOHN DONOVANLieutenant (junior grade) · November 5, 1969
- ROBERT BURCH ELDRIDGEFirst Lieutenant · November 5, 1969
- KEN ALLEN MCCARTNEYWarrant Officer 1 · November 5, 1969
Same unit, same day
- DOUGLAS PAUL LEFEVERMajor · Panel 16W, Line 34
From Portland
- RICHARD DALE BENZELSergeant First Class · December 6, 1962
- GEORGE WILLIAM WATSONSpecialist Five · December 18, 1963
- HAROLD JAMES ROBERTS JRMaster Sergeant · June 18, 1965
- TYRRELL GORDON LOWRYCaptain · June 18, 1965
- WILLIAM JOHN LAGRANDChief Warrant Officer 2 · September 5, 1965
- LARRY ALAN LINDSEYPrivate First Class · September 6, 1965
- DONALD WALTER LOVETTSpecialist Four · December 8, 1965
- DAVID JOHN BYSTEDTLance Corporal · January 11, 1966
- RAYMOND EARL BROWNLance Corporal · January 12, 1966
- JAMES LEE GARDNERCorporal · February 2, 1966
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.