The Wall › Panel 1W › Pennsylvania › William Clare Coltman
WILLIAM CLARE COLTMAN
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
February 24, 1932 – September 29, 1972
Service recordWilliam Clare Coltman, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 29, 1972, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 76 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 76
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 (1115G)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 430 TFS 474 TFW
- Born
- February 24, 1932
- Home of record
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 29, 1972
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
Four names on the Wall carry the date September 29, 1972. In September 1972, 36 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “430 TFS 474 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 1W, Line 76
- SCOTT LEE BIRKETAirman First Class · September 30, 1972
- HERMAN CAROL ACKERSeaman Apprentice · October 1, 1972
- JACK STEPHEN BERGMAN JRSeaman · October 1, 1972
- WILLIAM CLARK JRPetty Officer Third Class · October 1, 1972
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT ARTHUR BRETT JRCaptain · Panel 1W, Line 75
From Pittsburgh
- CLEVELAND WILLIAM GORDONMajor · January 7, 1964
- THEODORE ALAN WINOWITCHPrivate First Class · December 30, 1964
- CHARLES FREDRICK CLYDESDALELieutenant (junior grade) · March 15, 1965
- WILLIAM DONAVAN BENNINGStaff Sergeant · May 11, 1965
- FRANK HUFFORD BLANKSergeant · August 18, 1965
- JOHN L JEMISONPrivate First Class · August 18, 1965
- FRANK JOSEPH NADANY JRSergeant First Class · October 31, 1965
- RUSSELL EARL HAMMONDSergeant First Class · November 5, 1965
- HARRY FRANCIS JEDRZEJEWSKIPlatoon Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RONALD JOSEPH LOERLEINSergeant · November 25, 1965
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.