The Wall › Panel 1W › Ohio › Richard Vandegeer
RICHARD VANDEGEER
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Air Force
January 11, 1948 – May 15, 1975
Service recordRichard Vandegeer, of Columbus, Ohio, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He died on May 15, 1975, in Cambodia, at age 27. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 132 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 132
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
- Second Lieutenant (2NDLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1025F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 21 SP OPS SQ NAKON PHANOM
- Born
- January 11, 1948
- Home of record
- Columbus, Ohio (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 15, 1975
- Age
- 27
- Country
- Cambodia
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- Aircraft
- CH53
- Incident
- Uss Mayaguez Capture
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date May 15, 1975. In May 1975, 42 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “21 SP OPS SQ NAKON PHANOM”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in Cambodia while the Mayaguez incident was under way. After Khmer Rouge forces seized the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez in May 1975, Marines assaulted Koh Tang island; their names are the last on the Wall.
Read the history
Also on Panel 1W, Line 132
- WALTER BOYDPrivate First Class · May 15, 1975
- ANDRES GARCIALance Corporal · May 15, 1975
- RICHARD WILLIAM RIVENBURGHPrivate First Class · May 15, 1975
- ELWOOD EUGENE RUMBAUGHStaff Sergeant · May 15, 1975
Same unit, same day
- ELWOOD EUGENE RUMBAUGHStaff Sergeant · Panel 1W, Line 132
From Columbus
- LAWRENCE CLAIR HAMMONDChief Warrant Officer 2 · January 11, 1963
- JOHN FREDRICK STONEBURNERMajor · December 9, 1964
- TOMMY JOE BELCHERSpecialist Four · February 10, 1965
- ANDREW JACOB HINDERMANPrivate First Class · September 11, 1965
- WILLIAM BISHOP WOLFLance Corporal · October 14, 1965
- DENNIS SMITHCorporal · October 30, 1965
- CHARLES THOMAS MOORE JRSpecialist Five · November 17, 1965
- KENNETH POLINGSpecialist Four · November 21, 1965
- MORRIS LEE BARGYCorporal · November 29, 1965
- MORRIS E JENKINSSpecialist Five · December 2, 1965
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.