The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Richard Hopkins Gibson.

The Wall › Panel 24E › Texas › Richard Hopkins Gibson

RICHARD HOPKINS GIBSON

Petty Officer Third Class · U.S. Navy

October 25, 1945 – July 29, 1967

Service record

Richard Hopkins Gibson, of San Antonio, Texas, served as a Petty Officer Third Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on July 29, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 24E, Line 25 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 24E · Line 25

Position of Panel 24E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Aviation Machinist's Mate (AD)
Unit (as recorded)
7 FLT
Born
October 25, 1945
Home of record
San Antonio, Texas (Bexar County)

Casualty

Date of death
July 29, 1967
Age
21
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Ship/Submarine Accident At Sea (MC)

Context · from the records

What was happening

184 names on the Wall carry the date July 29, 1967. In July 1967, 1,057 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “7 FLT”, his unit in the record, lost 104 of its members that month.

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.

Also on Panel 24E, Line 25

Same unit, same day

From San Antonio

All 287 names from San Antonio →

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.