The Wall › Panel 11E › Iowa › Richard Earle Donahue
RICHARD EARLE DONAHUE
Commander · U.S. Navy
September 26, 1929 – October 26, 1966
Service recordRichard Earle Donahue, of Centerville, Iowa, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He died on October 26, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 37. His name is inscribed on Panel 11E, Line 108 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 11E · Line 108
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
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Medical Corps (2105)
- Born
- September 26, 1929
- Home of record
- Centerville, Iowa (Appanoose County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 26, 1966
- Age
- 37
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
54 names on the Wall carry the date October 26, 1966. In October 1966, 516 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 11E, Line 108
- NOAH CHANDLER COLLIER JRPrivate First Class · October 26, 1966
- RAMON ALLEN COPPLELieutenant (junior grade) · October 26, 1966
- ROBERT LOUIS DYKESeaman · October 26, 1966
- GEORGE K FARRISCommander · October 26, 1966
From Centerville
- JAMES DERWIN COHRONSergeant First Class · January 12, 1968
- DENNIS MARTIN CRAVERStaff Sergeant · April 26, 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.