The Wall › Panel 53E › Ohio › Robert Edward Pietsch
ROBERT EDWARD PIETSCH
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
December 24, 1936 – April 30, 1968
Service recordRobert Edward Pietsch, of Cleveland, Ohio, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 30, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 53E, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 53E · Line 21
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1223Z)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 609 ACS
- Born
- December 24, 1936
- Home of record
- Cleveland, Ohio (Cuyahoga County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 30, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
87 names on the Wall carry the date April 30, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “609 ACS”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
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.
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 53E, Line 21
- ELMER JOSEPH PERRY JRSergeant · April 30, 1968
- DONALD LEE PETERSONPrivate First Class · April 30, 1968
- NORMAN IRA PHIPPSPrivate First Class · April 30, 1968
- SOREN PRIPLance Corporal · April 30, 1968
Same unit, same day
- LOUIS FULDA GUILLERMINMajor · Panel 53E, Line 14
From Cleveland
- HAROLD E STRONG JRSergeant First Class · January 23, 1965
- KENNETH LEE DEAN JRCaptain · April 20, 1965
- BOBBY RUSSELLSergeant First Class · June 10, 1965
- THOMAS H BOTTSSergeant First Class · September 4, 1965
- LEONARD JOHN DADANTEFirst Lieutenant · September 9, 1965
- JOHN PAUL DUCHNOWSKILance Corporal · November 5, 1965
- LAVALLE ERNEST CARLTONPrivate First Class · November 8, 1965
- DONALD ROBERT CLARKCaptain · November 9, 1965
- DAVID LOUIS MENDOZASpecialist Four · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD KILLENSSpecialist Four · December 5, 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.