The Wall › Panel 2E › Virginia › Walter Kosko
WALTER KOSKO
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
May 26, 1938 – July 27, 1965
Service recordWalter Kosko, of Blacksburg, Virginia, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on July 27, 1965, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 2E, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 2E · Line 44
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 563 TFS
- Born
- May 26, 1938
- Home of record
- Blacksburg, Virginia (Montgomery County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- July 27, 1965
- 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
Three names on the Wall carry the date July 27, 1965. In July 1965, 103 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 2E, Line 44
- WILLIAM J BARTHELMAS JRCaptain · July 27, 1965
- JACK GRAHAM FARRMajor · July 27, 1965
- EDWARD DEAN BROWN JRLieutenant (junior grade) · July 29, 1965
- RALPH FORRESTER GALVINPrivate · July 29, 1965
From Blacksburg
- ROBERT MILTON WADEStaff Sergeant · October 12, 1967
- FREDERICK FRENCH VANDEUSENLieutenant Colonel · July 3, 1968
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.