The Wall › Panel 2W › Massachusetts › Robert Edward Ryan JR

ROBERT EDWARD RYAN JR

First Lieutenant · U.S. Air Force

August 5, 1947 – October 30, 1971

Service record

Robert Edward Ryan JR, of Hingham, Massachusetts, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He died on October 30, 1971, in Laos, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 2W, Line 56 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 2W · Line 56

Position of Panel 2W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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.

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Service

Branch: U.S. Air Force
Rank: First Lieutenant (1STLT)
Service: Regular
Unit (as recorded): 7 AF
Born: August 5, 1947
Home of record: Hingham, Massachusetts (Plymouth County)

Casualty

Date of death: October 30, 1971
Age: 24
Country: Laos
Casualty type: Hostile
Category: Killed in Action
Circumstance: Aircraft Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

11 names on the Wall carry the date October 30, 1971. In October 1971, 132 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

Remembered on October 30

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 2W, Line 56

JACK ALLEN GARNESSergeant · October 30, 1971
DARRELL HOGANStaff Sergeant · October 30, 1971
ERNIE ROBLES MARTINEZSpecialist Five · October 30, 1971
JAMES MICHAEL SELIXStaff Sergeant · October 30, 1971

From Hingham

CURTIS EDWARD CHASEFirst Lieutenant · May 6, 1967
BARRY LEE WOLKCorporal · February 3, 1968
CHARLES THOMAS MCNUTTPrivate First Class · July 26, 1968
WILLIAM BICKERS TERRYMaster Sergeant · March 8, 1969

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.