The Wall › Panel 4W › New Hampshire › Sheldon John Burnett
SHELDON JOHN BURNETT
Colonel · U.S. Army
June 9, 1931 – March 7, 1971
Service recordSheldon John Burnett, of Pelham, New Hampshire, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Army. He was lost on March 7, 1971, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 31
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. Army
- Rank
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- AMERICAL DIV
- Born
- June 9, 1931
- Home of record
- Pelham, New Hampshire (Hillsborough County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 7, 1971
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
11 names on the Wall carry the date March 7, 1971. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 50 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while Operation Lam Son 719 was under way. In Lam Son 719 (February–March 1971), South Vietnamese troops drove into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, carried and supported by U.S. helicopters and aircraft; more than 100 U.S. helicopters were lost.
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.
Also on Panel 4W, Line 31
- PATRICK LOYAL FRICKESergeant · March 7, 1971
- GEORGE ROBERT MORGANSergeant · March 7, 1971
- DAVID JESUS NARANJOCorporal · March 7, 1971
- HYRUM BARRY PORTChief Warrant Officer 2 · March 7, 1971
Same unit, same day
- MARK AFFLERBACHCaptain · Panel 4W, Line 30
- HYRUM BARRY PORTChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 4W, Line 31
From Pelham
- EDWARD GEORGE KILUK JRSpecialist Four · July 24, 1970
- BARRY WILLIAM GODFREYWarrant Officer 1 · August 25, 1970
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.