The Wall › Panel 34W › Kansas › Walter Wesley Martin
WALTER WESLEY MARTIN
Major · U.S. Air Force
October 16, 1935 – January 17, 1969
Service recordWalter Wesley Martin, of Opolis, Kansas, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He died on January 17, 1969, in Laos, at age 33. His name is inscribed on Panel 34W, Line 26 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 34W · Line 26
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 7 AF
- Born
- October 16, 1935
- Home of record
- Opolis, Kansas (Crawford County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 17, 1969
- Age
- 33
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
56 names on the Wall carry the date January 17, 1969. In January 1969, 985 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “7 AF”, his unit in the record, lost 4 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 34W, Line 26
- EARL LAROY LEIGHTONSeaman Apprentice · January 17, 1969
- VICTOR LOPEZSpecialist Four · January 17, 1969
- JUAN ARTURO MALDONADOTechnical Sergeant · January 17, 1969
- STEPHEN WOODTHORPE MAYNELance Corporal · January 17, 1969
Same unit, same day
- ALBERT JACKSON DAVISStaff Sergeant · Panel 34W, Line 22
- RICHARD ALAN FLEMINGCaptain · Panel 34W, Line 23
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.