The Wall › Panel 27W › Montana › Robert Vincent Willett JR
ROBERT VINCENT WILLETT JR
Major · U.S. Air Force
August 5, 1944 – April 17, 1969
Service recordRobert Vincent Willett JR, of Great Falls, Montana, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 17, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 27W, Line 103 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 27W · Line 103
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
- Pilot (1115B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 309 TFS 31 TFW
- Born
- August 5, 1944
- Home of record
- Great Falls, Montana (Cascade County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 17, 1969
- 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
35 names on the Wall carry the date April 17, 1969. In April 1969, 1,023 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.
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 27W, Line 103
- CHARLES FRANCIS PREVEDELSergeant First Class · April 17, 1969
- WAYNE MICHAEL RANDALLPrivate First Class · April 17, 1969
- CHARLES DAVID ROBINSONSpecialist Four · April 17, 1969
- WILLIAM HOYT SMITHPrivate First Class · April 17, 1969
From Great Falls
- WILLIAM MURRE CHRISTENSENLieutenant Commander · March 1, 1966
- JOE DAVID KEGLEYPrivate First Class · July 27, 1966
- ROGER PAUL RICHARDSONCaptain · March 9, 1967
- STEPHEN CARL NELSONPrivate First Class · April 25, 1967
- JOSEPH GORDON KLEMENCICPrivate First Class · May 9, 1967
- LYLE ALBERT JOHNSONCaptain · October 5, 1967
- WILLIAM MICHAEL JOHNSONPrivate First Class · July 13, 1968
- MICHAEL FRANC HENDRICKSONFirst Lieutenant · July 25, 1968
- GLENN CHARLES FISHSergeant · August 27, 1968
- FRANKLIN NEWTON CURLStaff Sergeant · November 9, 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.