The Wall › Panel 30W › North Dakota › Wendell Richard Keller
WENDELL RICHARD KELLER
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
May 19, 1934 – March 1, 1969
Service recordWendell Richard Keller, of Fargo, North Dakota, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on March 1, 1969, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30W · Line 5
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
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1115F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 433 TFS 8 TFW
- Born
- May 19, 1934
- Home of record
- Fargo, North Dakota (Cass County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 1, 1969
- Country
- Laos
- 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
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 5
- JOSEPH ROBERT KING JRPrivate First Class · March 1, 1969
- DAVID EUGENE LOVEGRENCorporal · March 1, 1969
- GREGORY ALLEN MARVINSpecialist Four · March 1, 1969
- FRANK WILDERCorporal · March 1, 1969
Same unit, same day
- VIRGIL KERSH MERONEY IIICaptain · Panel 30W, Line 6
From Fargo
- JON ALFRED GREENLEYFirst Lieutenant · January 7, 1966
- GERALD LEE LARSONSpecialist Five · February 5, 1967
- PAUL HARVEY WOLOSPrivate First Class · April 28, 1967
- STEPHEN JOHN EICHELBERGERLance Corporal · May 16, 1967
- MURRAY DEAN VIDLERPrivate First Class · December 19, 1967
- RONALD DALE BONDMajor · March 11, 1968
- DAVID JON NESSETFirst Lieutenant · April 19, 1968
- RICHARD JAMES GAFFANEY JRCorporal · July 13, 1968
- THOMAS JOHN BEYERMajor · July 30, 1968
- DAVID ARLEN WALDERACaptain · April 2, 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.