The Wall › Panel 36W › Pennsylvania › Samuel Franklin Walker JR
SAMUEL FRANKLIN WALKER JR
Chief Master Sergeant · U.S. Air Force
July 10, 1942 – December 13, 1968
Service recordSamuel Franklin Walker JR, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 13, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 36W, Line 19 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36W · Line 19
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
- Chief Master Sergeant (CMSGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 606 SOP SQ 56 SOP WG
- Born
- July 10, 1942
- Home of record
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 13, 1968
- 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
36 names on the Wall carry the date December 13, 1968. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “606 SOP SQ 56 SOP WG”, his unit in the record, lost 5 of its members that month.
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
Also on Panel 36W, Line 19
- SAMMY RAY PALMERCorporal · December 13, 1968
- ROY STOWESpecialist Four · December 13, 1968
- WILLIAM EARL VANWEYPrivate First Class · December 13, 1968
- MARION FRANK WALDEN JRPrivate First Class · December 13, 1968
Same unit, same day
- FRED LEE CLARKEChief Master Sergeant · Panel 36W, Line 14
- DOUGLAS VINCENT DAILEYSenior Master Sergeant · Panel 36W, Line 14
- MORGAN JEFFERSON DONAHUEMajor · Panel 36W, Line 14
- JOSEPH PETER FANNINGMajor · Panel 36W, Line 15
From Philadelphia
- MEIR ENGELLieutenant Colonel · December 16, 1964
- MATTHEW N HARRIS JRMaster Sergeant · May 28, 1965
- ALLEN CONRAD HERTZFirst Lieutenant · June 6, 1965
- MILO BENETT STIBBINSSpecialist Five · June 11, 1965
- JOSEPH PATRICK GRUGANCorporal · June 26, 1965
- ROWLAND JOSEPH ADAMOLICorporal · August 18, 1965
- FRANK AMOS HENISSPrivate First Class · September 7, 1965
- EARL CHARLES WILLOUGHBYChief Master Sergeant · September 7, 1965
- WILLIAM A MITCHELL IIPetty Officer Third Class · September 12, 1965
- WILLIAM GREGORY MAURONEPrivate First Class · September 30, 1965
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.