The Wall › Panel 12W › Oregon › Richard Gene Elzinga
RICHARD GENE ELZINGA
Major · U.S. Air Force
August 13, 1942 – March 26, 1970
Service recordRichard Gene Elzinga, of Shedd, Oregon, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on March 26, 1970, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 12W, Line 45 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 12W · Line 45
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. Air Force
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Forward Air Controller (1144E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- DET 1 56 SOW UDORN AB
- Born
- August 13, 1942
- Home of record
- Shedd, Oregon (Linn County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 26, 1970
- 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
15 names on the Wall carry the date March 26, 1970. In March 1970, 625 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “DET 1 56 SOW UDORN AB”, his unit in the record, lost 2 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
On the Wall
Also on Panel 12W, Line 45
- WILLIAM LARRY ANDREWSLance Corporal · March 26, 1970
- RAYMOND H CRULLPrivate First Class · March 26, 1970
- JOHN PAUL DIDIER JRPrivate First Class · March 26, 1970
- JOE ALEXANDER ESCANDONSergeant · March 26, 1970
Same unit, same day
- HENRY LEWIS ALLENMajor · Panel 12W, Line 44
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.