The Wall › Panel 3E › Oregon › Paul Truman McClellan JR
PAUL TRUMAN MCCLELLAN JR
Captain · U.S. Air Force
July 7, 1931 – November 14, 1965
Service recordPaul Truman McClellan JR, of West Stayton, Oregon, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on November 14, 1965, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 34. His name is inscribed on Panel 3E, Line 50 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3E · Line 50
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 ACO SQ
- Born
- July 7, 1931
- Home of record
- West Stayton, Oregon (Marion County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 14, 1965
- Age
- 34
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
13 names on the Wall carry the date November 14, 1965; he was the only one lost in Pleiku Province that day. In November 1965, 545 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Pleiku Province while the Battle of the Ia Đrăng Valley was under way. In the Ia Đrăng Valley (14–18 November 1965), battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fought North Vietnamese regulars at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany — the first major battle between the two armies and the first great test of the helicopter war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
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 3E, Line 50
- FRANCIS MOODYPrivate First Class · November 14, 1965
- GILBERT MICHAEL NICKLASPrivate First Class · November 14, 1965
- DONALD RAY PATRICKSpecialist Four · November 14, 1965
- RICHARD ARTHUR WALRODSpecialist Four · November 14, 1965
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.