The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Samuel Alexander Woodworth.

The Wall › Panel 1E › Oklahoma › Samuel Alexander Woodworth

SAMUEL ALEXANDER WOODWORTH

Captain · U.S. Air Force

September 25, 1930 – April 17, 1965

Service record

Samuel Alexander Woodworth, of Minco, Oklahoma, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on April 17, 1965, in North Vietnam, at age 34. His name is inscribed on Panel 1E, Line 103 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 1E · Line 103

Position of Panel 1E 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
Captain (CAPT)
Service
Regular
Unit (as recorded)
563 TFS
Born
September 25, 1930
Home of record
Minco, Oklahoma (Grady County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 17, 1965
Age
34
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

One name on the Wall carry the date April 17, 1965. In April 1965, 61 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

Elsewhere

Also on Panel 1E, Line 103

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.