The Wall › Panel 62E › Oklahoma › Tommy Emerson Gist
TOMMY EMERSON GIST
Major · U.S. Air Force
October 29, 1939 – May 18, 1968
Service recordTommy Emerson Gist, of Durant, Oklahoma, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on May 18, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 62E, Line 22 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 62E · Line 22
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Weapon Systems Officer (1555D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 14 TRS
- Born
- October 29, 1939
- Home of record
- Durant, Oklahoma (Bryan County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- May 18, 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
59 names on the Wall carry the date May 18, 1968. In May 1968, 2,418 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 62E, Line 22
- DAVID ESEQUIEL PADILLALance Corporal · May 18, 1968
- HAROLD DOUGLAS PEPPERSPrivate First Class · May 18, 1968
- JERRY LEON PETTYSergeant · May 18, 1968
- TIMOTHY JOSEPH RIZZARDINISpecialist Four · May 18, 1968
From Durant
- DAVID PAUL MANNERSPrivate First Class · May 21, 1966
- ALBERT EUGENE COLLINSSergeant · March 5, 1968
- ARLAND JASPER JONESLance Corporal · July 5, 1969
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.