The Wall › Panel 43E › Pennsylvania › Richard Crawford Nelson
RICHARD CRAWFORD NELSON
Commander · U.S. Navy
July 12, 1941 – March 6, 1968
Service recordRichard Crawford Nelson, of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on March 6, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 29 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 29
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. Navy
- Rank
- Commander (CDR)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Born
- July 12, 1941
- Home of record
- Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (Delaware County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 6, 1968
- 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
140 names on the Wall carry the date March 6, 1968. In March 1968, 1,767 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 43E, Line 29
- RONALD MICHAEL OBENOURSpecialist Four · March 6, 1968
- RICHARD JAMES OHAREPrivate First Class · March 6, 1968
- STEPHEN FRANK PALAZZOLAPrivate First Class · March 6, 1968
- ANTHONY PATRIZICorporal · March 6, 1968
From Drexel Hill
- ROBERT DANIEL HIGBEELance Corporal · August 10, 1966
- CONAL JOSEPH BYRNE JRPetty Officer Third Class · September 21, 1967
- MICHAEL JOHN CALLAHANPrivate First Class · November 8, 1967
- WILLIAM ALLEN REESFirst Lieutenant · May 5, 1968
- DONALD RAY WENTZPrivate First Class · November 21, 1968
- DENNIS ROSS PAUL ISOMCaptain · March 3, 1969
- DONALD BRYAN MANCILLFirst Lieutenant · September 6, 1969
- MICHAEL JAMES KERLCaptain · February 6, 1971
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.