The Wall › Panel 9E › New York › Robert Joseph Ditommaso
ROBERT JOSEPH DITOMMASO
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
August 7, 1941 – July 29, 1966
Service recordRobert Joseph Ditommaso, of Buffalo, New York, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on July 29, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 9E, Line 86 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9E · Line 86
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
- Reserve / National Guard
- Unit (as recorded)
- 388 COS GP
- Born
- August 7, 1941
- Home of record
- Buffalo, New York (Erie County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- July 29, 1966
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date July 29, 1966. In July 1966, 562 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 9E, Line 86
- MICHAEL FRANK COOKPrivate First Class · July 29, 1966
- DOMINIC ANTHONY CORONAPrivate First Class · July 29, 1966
- GALE HERBERT FELVERPetty Officer Second Class · July 29, 1966
- ROBERT OLIVER GARANTCorporal · July 29, 1966
From Buffalo
- RICHARD MARION SROKACaptain · July 13, 1964
- KENNETH DAVID STANKIEWICZLance Corporal · August 18, 1965
- THEODORE ROOSEVELT CHAMBLEYStaff Sergeant · October 16, 1965
- HENRY JOHN PAWLICK JRSpecialist Four · November 7, 1965
- THOMAS GEORGE HENSONSpecialist Four · November 12, 1965
- WILBUR CURRY JRStaff Sergeant · November 15, 1965
- RICHARD P CORSONPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- HENRY JAMES DOSTERCorporal · March 5, 1966
- DUANE KENNETH HEISERPrivate First Class · March 15, 1966
- MICHAEL KELLY MCGUIREAirman · February 16, 1966
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.