The Wall › Panel 8W › Illinois › Richard W Pennington
RICHARD W PENNINGTON
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
July 21, 1930 – July 26, 1970
Service recordRichard W Pennington, of Adair, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on July 26, 1970, in Laos, at age 40. His name is inscribed on Panel 8W, Line 56 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8W · Line 56
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 7 AF
- Born
- July 21, 1930
- Home of record
- Adair, Illinois (Mcdonough County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 26, 1970
- Age
- 40
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date July 26, 1970. In July 1970, 495 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 8W, Line 56
- LARRY WAYNE RASEYSpecialist Four · July 26, 1970
- MARTIN LEROY RODGERSSpecialist Four · July 26, 1970
- RONALD JOSEPH SCHAAFSergeant · July 26, 1970
- JIMMY DON SMITHSergeant · July 26, 1970
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.