The Wall › Panel 46W › Colorado › Melvin Earl Ladewig
MELVIN EARL LADEWIG
Captain · U.S. Air Force
August 8, 1944 – August 24, 1968
Service recordMelvin Earl Ladewig, of Englewood, Colorado, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on August 24, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 46W, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46W · Line 5
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115R)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 497 TFS
- Born
- August 8, 1944
- Home of record
- Englewood, Colorado (Arapahoe County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- August 24, 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
56 names on the Wall carry the date August 24, 1968. In August 1968, 1,313 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 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
Also on Panel 46W, Line 5
- PETER FRANK KOVACHPrivate First Class · August 24, 1968
- FRANK JAY LACEYPrivate First Class · August 24, 1968
- DONALD GARY LAMMERSFirst Lieutenant · August 24, 1968
- DEAN LAVERNE LANGStaff Sergeant · August 24, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES HAROLD W READ JRColonel · Panel 46W, Line 7
From Englewood
- JERRY LEE POTTERPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- RICHARD ALLEN ECKVALLSergeant · March 25, 1966
- IVEL DOAN FREEMANMajor · March 9, 1967
- VICTOR JOE APODACA JRMajor · June 8, 1967
- RICHARD LEE SPAULDINGPetty Officer Third Class · September 10, 1967
- JERRY CONRAD KELLEYSpecialist Four · November 12, 1967
- DENNIS EDWARD HINTONFirst Lieutenant · May 5, 1968
- LEON JOSEPH PIERCECaptain · April 16, 1969
- DONALD LEE SENTIPrivate · January 22, 1971
- CARL MITCHELL WOODWarrant Officer 1 · February 5, 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.