The Wall › Panel 2E › Iowa › Melvin Joseph Killian
MELVIN JOSEPH KILLIAN
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
January 31, 1922 – September 30, 1965
Service recordMelvin Joseph Killian, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on September 30, 1965, in North Vietnam, at age 43. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 99 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2E · Line 99
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
- Born
- January 31, 1922
- Home of record
- Council Bluffs, Iowa (Pottawattamie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 30, 1965
- Age
- 43
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
Ten names on the Wall carry the date September 30, 1965. In September 1965, 150 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 2E, Line 99
- RONALD LEE DAVISLance Corporal · August 24, 1965
- MICHAEL DANIEL CHWANCaptain · September 30, 1965
- RAYMOND ELLISLieutenant · September 30, 1965
- JOHN J FLEMINGPrivate First Class · September 30, 1965
- JAMES DAVID LONGStaff Sergeant · September 30, 1965
From Council Bluffs
- PHILLIP HARRY GREGOPrivate First Class · August 23, 1966
- LEONARD LLOYD MCQUINN JRPrivate First Class · September 5, 1966
- PAUL FRANK WIDTFELDT JRSpecialist Four · October 8, 1966
- DENNIS RAY JENSENPrivate First Class · March 5, 1967
- RAYMOND HENRY KNIGHTSpecialist Five · March 25, 1967
- CLIFFORD DALE NELSONMajor · July 25, 1967
- LOUIS NEWTON COOLEY JRLance Corporal · December 16, 1967
- WILLIAM ALLEN IVESPrivate First Class · March 24, 1968
- KENNETH CARL BAXTERLance Corporal · May 1, 1968
- LYLE PRESTON BILLSPrivate First Class · May 17, 1968
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.