The Wall › Panel 30W › Arkansas › Virgil Kersh Meroney III
VIRGIL KERSH MERONEY III
Captain · U.S. Air Force
May 22, 1943 – March 1, 1969
Service recordVirgil Kersh Meroney III, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on March 1, 1969, in Laos, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30W · Line 6
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115R)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 433 TFS 8 TFW
- Born
- May 22, 1943
- Home of record
- Fayetteville, Arkansas (Washington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 1, 1969
- Age
- 25
- 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
51 names on the Wall carry the date March 1, 1969. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “433 TFS 8 TFW”, his unit in the record, lost 2 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
On the Wall
Also on Panel 30W, Line 6
- JOHN WILLIAM MASSEY JRSpecialist Four · March 1, 1969
- DONALD RICHARD MAYBERRYSpecialist Four · March 1, 1969
- GEORGE M MAYS JRPrivate First Class · March 1, 1969
- ROBERT PATRICK MENNINGERPrivate First Class · March 1, 1969
Same unit, same day
- WENDELL RICHARD KELLERColonel · Panel 30W, Line 5
From Fayetteville
- HOWARD HUGH WITHEYCorporal · June 6, 1967
- ROBERT VICTOR KEMPFirst Lieutenant · August 15, 1967
- HARMON L REMMEL IIIFirst Lieutenant · February 7, 1968
- BOBBY JOE DUNHAMSergeant First Class · January 9, 1969
- SANFORD JAMES LEDBETTERSergeant · August 27, 1969
- EDWARD BRUCE MELODYWarrant Officer 1 · February 23, 1970
- MARVIN ROSS KEETERSergeant · December 2, 1971
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.