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 Leigh Butt.

The Wall › Panel 12E › Virginia › Richard Leigh Butt

RICHARD LEIGH BUTT

Captain · U.S. Air Force

February 28, 1943 – November 11, 1966

Service record

Richard Leigh Butt, of Norfolk, Virginia, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on November 11, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 12E, Line 53 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 12E · Line 53

Position of Panel 12E 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

Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.

Service

Branch
U.S. Air Force
Rank
Captain (CAPT)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Born
February 28, 1943
Home of record
Norfolk, Virginia (Norfolk (City) County)

Casualty

Date of loss
November 11, 1966
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Declared Dead
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
First reported
Captured / prisoner of war

Context · from the records

What was happening

24 names on the Wall carry the date November 11, 1966. In November 1966, 641 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.

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.

Also on Panel 12E, Line 53

From Norfolk

All 104 names from Norfolk →

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.