The Wall › Panel 1W › Illinois › Kenneth Richard Buell
KENNETH RICHARD BUELL
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
August 24, 1939 – September 17, 1972
Service recordKenneth Richard Buell, of Kankakee, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on September 17, 1972, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 73 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 73
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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Naval Flight Officer (1320)
- Unit (as recorded)
- ATKRON 35
- Born
- August 24, 1939
- Home of record
- Kankakee, Illinois (Kankakee County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 17, 1972
- 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
Five names on the Wall carry the date September 17, 1972. In September 1972, 36 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
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 1W, Line 73
- CARROLL THOMAS JACKSONStaff Sergeant · September 16, 1972
- MELVIN L STEVENSONSpecialist Five · September 16, 1972
- VERNE GEORGE DONNELLYCommander · September 17, 1972
- THOMAS AUGUST GOETSCHAirman Apprentice · September 17, 1972
From Kankakee
- PATRICK FRANCIS BECKPrivate First Class · August 31, 1965
- RICHARD CROSBY CLARKSpecialist Four · November 18, 1965
- ROBERT CHARLES JOHNSONPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- GENNARO JOSEPH DECARLOCorporal · August 27, 1967
- DEAN PAUL STPIERRECaptain · May 22, 1968
- CHARLES DONALD JONESPetty Officer First Class · February 19, 1969
- NELSON LEPORT HORCHEM JRSpecialist Four · March 30, 1969
- PHILIP MICHAEL WERBISKIMajor · August 19, 1969
- EDDIE SAM RANDALL JRSpecialist Four · March 15, 1970
- JIMMY ODENEALPrivate First Class · March 12, 1971
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.