The Wall › Panel 1W › Utah › Ralph Jim Chipman
RALPH JIM CHIPMAN
Captain · U.S. Marine Corps
August 15, 1943 – December 27, 1972
Service recordRalph Jim Chipman, of Orem, Utah, served as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was lost on December 27, 1972, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 106 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 106
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot Vma (Aw) (I), Frs Basic A-6 (7511)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VMA 533 AW MAG 15
- Born
- August 15, 1943
- Home of record
- Orem, Utah (Utah County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 27, 1972
- 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
Seven names on the Wall carry the date December 27, 1972. In December 1972, 75 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Linebacker II was under way. In Linebacker II (18–29 December 1972), B-52s and fighter-bombers struck Hanoi and Haiphong for eleven days; fifteen B-52s were lost to SA-2 missiles before North Vietnam returned to the Paris talks.
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
Also on Panel 1W, Line 106
- DALLAS C ALEXANDER JRSpecialist Four · December 27, 1972
- RONALD WAYNE FORRESTERCaptain · December 27, 1972
- DONALD ARRINGTON JOYNERLieutenant Colonel · December 27, 1972
- ROY TOM TABLERCaptain · December 27, 1972
From Orem
- RAYMOND ALEXANDER DAVISPrivate First Class · February 11, 1966
- ROBERT MITCHELL SAWAYACorporal · December 15, 1967
- GARY NEIL FOSTERPrivate First Class · January 26, 1968
- JEFFERY ALAN GOSSLance Corporal · May 24, 1968
- KENT CHILDS TAYLORSpecialist Four · May 14, 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.