The Wall › Panel 1W › New York › Richard Milton Cole JR
RICHARD MILTON COLE JR
Technical Sergeant · U.S. Air Force
July 20, 1940 – June 18, 1972
Service recordRichard Milton Cole JR, of Uniondale, New York, served as a Technical Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He died on June 18, 1972, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 44
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
- Technical Sergeant (TSGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 7 AF
- Born
- July 20, 1940
- Home of record
- Uniondale, New York (Nassau County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- June 18, 1972
- Age
- 31
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date June 18, 1972; 12 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In June 1972, 88 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “7 AF”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 44
- GERALD FRANCIS AYRESMajor · June 18, 1972
- MARK GILES DANIELSONCaptain · June 18, 1972
- PAUL FARIS GILBERTCaptain · June 18, 1972
- ROBERT HEERMAN HARRISONMajor · June 18, 1972
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD E NYHOFTechnical Sergeant · Panel 1W, Line 46
From Uniondale
- CHARLES PRESTON TUTHILLCorporal · October 8, 1963
- PETER NEWELL ANDERSONSergeant · November 30, 1967
- WALTER ALBERT OWENSSpecialist Four · December 3, 1967
- ROBERT DANIEL FACCIOCorporal · October 12, 1968
- ROBERT WALTER BUCKLEYSpecialist Four · May 20, 1969
- BRENDAN XAVIER TURNERPrivate First Class · June 5, 1969
- THEODORE F BENVENUTO JRPrivate First Class · August 12, 1969
- RICHARD THOMAS MORRISSEYCaptain · August 19, 1969
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.