The Wall › Panel 47E › Illinois › Ronald Reuel Rexroad
RONALD REUEL REXROAD
Major · U.S. Air Force
March 13, 1940 – April 3, 1968
Service recordRonald Reuel Rexroad, of Rankin, Illinois, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 3, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 47E, Line 58 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 47E · Line 58
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 (1323F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 TRS
- Born
- March 13, 1940
- Home of record
- Rankin, Illinois (Vermilion County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 3, 1968
- 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
65 names on the Wall carry the date April 3, 1968. In April 1968, 1,580 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 47E, Line 58
- THEODORE WILLIAM SANDIDGESpecialist Four · April 3, 1968
- JOHN TERRELL WILKINSONFirst Lieutenant · April 3, 1968
- TERRY LEE BAXTERSpecialist Five · April 4, 1968
- JERALD ALLEN BORMANSergeant · April 4, 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.