The Wall › Panel 1W › Oklahoma › Ronald Jack Ward
RONALD JACK WARD
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
December 16, 1933 – December 18, 1972
Service recordRonald Jack Ward, of Anadarko, Oklahoma, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 18, 1972, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 95 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 95
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115G)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 430 TFS TAKHLI
- Born
- December 16, 1933
- Home of record
- Anadarko, Oklahoma (Caddo County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 18, 1972
- Country
- North Vietnam
- 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
Five names on the Wall carry the date December 18, 1972. In December 1972, 75 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “430 TFS TAKHLI”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in North Vietnam while Linebacker II was under way. In Linebacker II (18–29 December 1972), B-52s and fighter-bombers struck Hanoi and Haiphong for eleven days; fifteen B-52s were lost to SA-2 missiles before North Vietnam returned to the Paris talks.
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
Also on Panel 1W, Line 95
- DONALD LOUIS RISSILieutenant Colonel · December 18, 1972
- ROBERT JAMES THOMASCaptain · December 18, 1972
- RICHARD WALLER COOPER JRMajor · December 19, 1972
- DONALD ANDREW DIXChief Petty Officer · December 19, 1972
Same unit, same day
- JAMES RICHARD MCELVAINLieutenant Colonel · Panel 1W, Line 94
From Anadarko
- EUGENE LEONARD ARANDAPrivate First Class · September 24, 1965
- JOHN ARTHUR EDDYChief Warrant Officer 3 · May 4, 1966
- JAMES LARRY MCBRIDELance Corporal · July 2, 1967
- WALTER RAY RIDDLEPrivate First Class · November 19, 1967
- ALBERT JOSEPH SMITHLieutenant Colonel · June 16, 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.