The Wall › Panel 13W › Kansas › Thomas Eldon Gillen
THOMAS ELDON GILLEN
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
May 8, 1933 – February 18, 1970
Service recordThomas Eldon Gillen, of Kingman, Kansas, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on February 18, 1970, in Laos, at age 36. His name is inscribed on Panel 13W, Line 28 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 13W · Line 28
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 (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 435 TFS 8 TFW
- Born
- May 8, 1933
- Home of record
- Kingman, Kansas (Kingman County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1970
- Age
- 36
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
27 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1970. In February 1970, 569 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 13W, Line 28
- BRIAN MICHAEL FLANNERYSpecialist Four · February 18, 1970
- MICHAEL STEVEN GRYDERCorporal · February 18, 1970
- DAVID LEE HARDINGSergeant · February 18, 1970
- EARL FREDERICK HOFMANNSergeant · February 18, 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.