The Wall › Panel 20E › California › Richard Wendal Homuth
RICHARD WENDAL HOMUTH
Lieutenant · U.S. Navy
January 6, 1937 – May 23, 1967
Service recordRichard Wendal Homuth, of Spring Valley, California, served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He died on May 23, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 20E, Line 90 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 20E · Line 90
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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant (LT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1310)
- Unit (as recorded)
- HS 2 USS HORNET CVS 12
- Born
- January 6, 1937
- Home of record
- Spring Valley, California (San Diego County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 23, 1967
- Age
- 30
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
23 names on the Wall carry the date May 23, 1967. In May 1967, 1,396 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “HS 2 USS HORNET CVS 12”, his unit in the record, lost 4 of its members that month.
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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 20E, Line 90
- THOMAS L COLDRENFirst Lieutenant · May 23, 1967
- CHARLIE MACK GILMERPrivate First Class · May 23, 1967
- RICHARD FREDERICK HENRICHPrivate First Class · May 23, 1967
- BOBBY RAY JERMYNCaptain · May 23, 1967
Same unit, same day
- THOMAS EDWIN PETTISLieutenant (junior grade) · Panel 20E, Line 91
- EUREKA LAVERN SCHMITTOUPetty Officer First Class · Panel 20E, Line 92
- RONALD PHILIP SOUCYPetty Officer First Class · Panel 20E, Line 92
From Spring Valley
- DAVID ANDREW DILLONSpecialist Four · July 20, 1966
- DAVID RUSSELL JONESLance Corporal · February 9, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES SEAMAN JRPrivate First Class · March 18, 1968
- KELLY WAYNE WEITZELPrivate First Class · February 23, 1969
- MICHAEL NICHOLAS MASUENWarrant Officer 1 · August 21, 1969
- RONALD GENE LAUDERDALEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1969
- JAMES DAVID ANELLACorporal · March 5, 1970
- NICHOLAS WHITTIER VROOMANSpecialist Four · May 24, 1970
- PETER MITCHELL LOPEZ JRSpecialist Four · February 25, 1971
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.