The Wall › Panel 16W › California › Richard Frank Collins
RICHARD FRANK COLLINS
Commander · U.S. Navy
October 25, 1936 – November 22, 1969
Service recordRichard Frank Collins, of Huntington Park, California, served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on November 22, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 108 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · 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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VA 196
- Born
- October 25, 1936
- Home of record
- Huntington Park, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- November 22, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- 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
17 names on the Wall carry the date November 22, 1969. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VA 196”, his unit in the record, lost 3 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
Also on Panel 16W, Line 108
- ROBERT KENT WORTHENPrivate First Class · November 21, 1969
- CHARLES DAVID YLLANLance Corporal · November 21, 1969
- KEITH COLWELLCorporal · November 22, 1969
- JOHN JOE CROCELance Corporal · November 22, 1969
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD CARL DEUTERLieutenant · Panel 16W, Line 109
- MICHAEL EDWARD QUINNLieutenant Commander · Panel 16W, Line 110
From Huntington Park
- DAVID LUIS GALANPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- STEVEN CRAIG PATTERSONLance Corporal · March 22, 1967
- DENNIS WILLIAM PETERSONLieutenant · July 19, 1967
- CHARLES DAVID HOMLieutenant (junior grade) · August 17, 1967
- DONALD LEE BAKERPrivate First Class · September 6, 1967
- GALE ROBERT SIOWPetty Officer Third Class · January 11, 1968
- JOSEPH ANTHONY JANOWICZSpecialist Four · April 14, 1968
- JOSEPH RALPH FRANCKOWIAKCorporal · July 27, 1968
- DAVID VERNON MCCOLLUMPrivate First Class · August 29, 1968
- GEORGE FLOHR JRPrivate First Class · October 5, 1968
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.