The Wall › Panel 35W › Maine › Paul Everett Getchell
PAUL EVERETT GETCHELL
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
October 12, 1936 – January 13, 1969
Service recordPaul Everett Getchell, of Portland, Maine, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on January 13, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 35W, Line 82 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 35W · Line 82
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Navigator-Bombardier (1525Z)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 8 TBS 35 TFW
- Born
- October 12, 1936
- Home of record
- Portland, Maine (Cumberland County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- January 13, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
28 names on the Wall carry the date January 13, 1969. In January 1969, 985 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “8 TBS 35 TFW”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
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 35W, Line 82
- VAUGHN ORMON DOTYSpecialist Four · January 13, 1969
- NORMAN DALE EATONColonel · January 13, 1969
- PHILIP CHARLES ERICKSONSergeant · January 13, 1969
- CHARLES E HIGBEE JRFirst Lieutenant · January 13, 1969
Same unit, same day
- NORMAN DALE EATONColonel · Panel 35W, Line 82
From Portland
- LESTER EARL MACDONALDSergeant · June 8, 1966
- LAWRENCE WILLIAM SHAY JRLance Corporal · June 15, 1966
- JAMES M MCDONOUGH JRCaptain · August 2, 1966
- ROBERT GREGORY WILLIAMSONPrivate First Class · November 10, 1966
- PAUL LEWIS STIMPSONFirst Lieutenant · April 22, 1967
- ROBERT ALLAN TURNERPetty Officer Second Class · May 18, 1967
- HAROLD ELLSWORTH SOUTHARDPrivate First Class · June 24, 1967
- LAWRENCE LANOSpecialist Five · October 29, 1967
- STEPHEN JOHN WHIPPLEPrivate First Class · December 15, 1967
- EDWARD JOSEPH DARCYChief Master Sergeant · December 29, 1967
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.