The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Bomb craters along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, August 1970.
Bomb craters along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, August 1970. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Wayne Edward Pearson.

The Wall › Panel 32W › Illinois › Wayne Edward Pearson

WAYNE EDWARD PEARSON

Major · U.S. Air Force

November 4, 1939 – February 22, 1969

Service record

Wayne Edward Pearson, of Western Springs, Illinois, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He died on February 22, 1969, in Laos, at age 29. His name is inscribed on Panel 32W, Line 82 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 32W · Line 82

Position of Panel 32W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Pilot (1115F)
Born
November 4, 1939
Home of record
Western Springs, Illinois (Cook County)

Casualty

Date of death
February 22, 1969
Age
29
Country
Laos
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown

Context · from the records

What was happening

61 names on the Wall carry the date February 22, 1969. In February 1969, 1,304 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.

Also on Panel 32W, Line 82

From Western Springs

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.