The Wall › Panel 9E › Iowa › Merrill Raymond Lewis JR
MERRILL RAYMOND LEWIS JR
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
August 17, 1932 – May 25, 1966
Service recordMerrill Raymond Lewis JR, of Indianola, Iowa, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on May 25, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 9E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9E · Line 48
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
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115E)
- Born
- August 17, 1932
- Home of record
- Indianola, Iowa (Warren County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 25, 1966
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
Eight names on the Wall carry the date May 25, 1966. In May 1966, 595 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.
Also on Panel 9E, Line 48
- RONALD JAY KINKEADEChief Warrant Officer 2 · July 20, 1966
- DANIEL ALVEY LAMBDINChief Warrant Officer 2 · July 20, 1966
- ERNEST DARRELL MITCHELLPrivate First Class · July 20, 1966
- WILLIAM HUMPHREY NELSONColonel · July 20, 1966
From Indianola
- GLENN ARTHUR ADAMSChief Warrant Officer 3 · May 12, 1970
- VERNON ARTHUR WRIGHTSpecialist Four · September 5, 1970
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.