The Wall › Panel 1W › Maryland › Richard Waller Cooper JR
RICHARD WALLER COOPER JR
Major · U.S. Air Force
November 18, 1942 – December 19, 1972
Service recordRichard Waller Cooper JR, of Salisbury, Maryland, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 19, 1972, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 95 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 95
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
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Navigator-Bombardier (1525D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 307 STRAT WG
- Born
- November 18, 1942
- Home of record
- Salisbury, Maryland (Wicomico County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 19, 1972
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
Seven names on the Wall carry the date December 19, 1972. In December 1972, 75 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “307 STRAT WG”, his unit in the record, lost 5 of its members that month.
He died in North Vietnam while Linebacker II was under way. In Linebacker II (18–29 December 1972), B-52s and fighter-bombers struck Hanoi and Haiphong for eleven days; fifteen B-52s were lost to SA-2 missiles before North Vietnam returned to the Paris talks.
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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 1W, Line 95
- DONALD LOUIS RISSILieutenant Colonel · December 18, 1972
- ROBERT JAMES THOMASCaptain · December 18, 1972
- RONALD JACK WARDColonel · December 18, 1972
- DONALD ANDREW DIXChief Petty Officer · December 19, 1972
From Salisbury
- BARRIE VANE BARNESSpecialist Four · May 6, 1966
- CHARLES WALTER PARSONSStaff Sergeant · June 12, 1966
- JACK HOWARD SMITHPrivate First Class · March 13, 1967
- DON LEE SHOCKLEYLance Corporal · March 28, 1967
- GEORGE THOMAS POWELLStaff Sergeant · April 24, 1967
- WILLIAM THOMAS PARKER IIIPrivate First Class · June 1, 1967
- ELMER NEAL DAVISPrivate · September 19, 1967
- JOHN DAVIS WILLINGHAMSpecialist Four · February 4, 1968
- ERNEST ARTHUR OLDSColonel · March 11, 1968
- GARY LEE BOUNDSPrivate First Class · May 5, 1968
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.