The Wall › Panel 1W › Idaho › Richard Joseph Meechan
RICHARD JOSEPH MEECHAN
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
January 6, 1928 – June 15, 1972
Service recordRichard Joseph Meechan, of Payette, Idaho, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on June 15, 1972, in Phu Bon Province, South Vietnam, at age 44. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 43 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 43
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- January 6, 1928
- Home of record
- Payette, Idaho (Payette County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 15, 1972
- Age
- 44
- Province
- Phu Bon
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
Two names on the Wall carry the date June 15, 1972; he was the only one lost in Phu Bon Province that day. In June 1972, 88 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Phu Bon Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 43
- THOMAS RALPH HAMMANCaptain · June 15, 1972
- JOHN JOSEPH CABRALLieutenant · June 16, 1972
- ESEQUIEL MARTINEZ ENCINASMajor · June 17, 1972
- LEON ANDREW HUNTStaff Sergeant · June 18, 1972
From Payette
- DANNY L NAILLONPrivate First Class · September 12, 1966
- WINFIELD SCOTT FLINTLance Corporal · May 14, 1967
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.