The Wall › Panel 10E › Tennessee › Lawrence Byron Tatum
LAWRENCE BYRON TATUM
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
April 29, 1930 – September 10, 1966
Service recordLawrence Byron Tatum, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 10, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 10E, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 10E · Line 85
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1111B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 ACS
- Born
- April 29, 1930
- Home of record
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (Hamilton County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 10, 1966
- 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
18 names on the Wall carry the date September 10, 1966. In September 1966, 533 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 10E, Line 85
- EDMUND FRANCIS THORNELLCaptain · September 10, 1966
- THOMAS CHARLES WALSHCaptain · September 10, 1966
- PAUL GARY WEIGANDPrivate First Class · September 10, 1966
- JAMES EDWARD WESTPrivate First Class · September 10, 1966
From Chattanooga
- JIMMY RICHARD GRIFFINSergeant · March 22, 1963
- GEORGE WILLIS MARTINSergeant First Class · October 11, 1964
- ARTHUR EUGENE NORMANAirman Second Class · January 16, 1965
- GLENN HOWELL KELLEYSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- JAMES T GRAYSergeant · April 24, 1965
- VIRGIL KIRKLAND JRSpecialist Four · November 12, 1965
- KENNETH LEON STANCILChief Warrant Officer 2 · December 28, 1965
- ELIJAH GOAR TOLLETT JRMajor · January 12, 1966
- RAPHNELL J MERONEYSergeant · January 29, 1966
- BILLY BROWN DAYPrivate · February 22, 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.