The Wall › Panel 40W › Illinois › Kenneth Keith Knabb JR
KENNETH KEITH KNABB JR
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
March 26, 1938 – October 21, 1968
Service recordKenneth Keith Knabb JR, of Wheaton, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on October 21, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 40W, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40W · Line 13
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 106
- Born
- March 26, 1938
- Home of record
- Wheaton, Illinois (Du Page County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- October 21, 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
40 names on the Wall carry the date October 21, 1968. In October 1968, 821 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
Also on Panel 40W, Line 13
- GLENN EDWARD MILESSergeant · October 21, 1968
- BRUCE MICHAEL MILEYSpecialist Five · October 21, 1968
- BILLY RAY MORRISTechnical Sergeant · October 21, 1968
- RUSSELL EDWIN NIHILLSergeant · October 21, 1968
From Wheaton
- BRUCE DOUGLAS WEBBCaptain · August 18, 1965
- DONALD FREDERICK GIBSONStaff Sergeant · August 26, 1966
- JOHN RICHARD GREGOIRESpecialist Four · April 2, 1967
- RICHARD LEE BLASENLance Corporal · June 3, 1967
- JOHN ANDREW DONNALLieutenant Colonel · August 1, 1967
- JON FRANCIS VANDUYNStaff Sergeant · April 8, 1968
- FLOYD WARREN OLSENLieutenant Colonel · April 21, 1968
- EDWARD LEE GUSTAFSONPrivate First Class · November 1, 1968
- JOHN SHELBY POOLERSpecialist Four · November 29, 1968
- FRANKLIN LEROY KOCHFirst Lieutenant · May 28, 1969
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.