The Wall › Panel 6E › Georgia › William Earl Cooper
WILLIAM EARL COOPER
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
September 16, 1920 – April 24, 1966
Service recordWilliam Earl Cooper, of Albany, Georgia, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on April 24, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 131 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6E · Line 131
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 (1115E)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 469 TFS
- Born
- September 16, 1920
- Home of record
- Albany, Georgia (Dougherty County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- April 24, 1966
- 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
14 names on the Wall carry the date April 24, 1966. In April 1966, 406 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 6E, Line 131
- DONALD L DRYOELSpecialist Four · April 24, 1966
- DANIEL BENJAMIN DUFFY JRCorporal · April 24, 1966
- JOHN ALBERT FONTAINEPrivate First Class · April 24, 1966
- DAVID WILLIAM TERWILLIGERPrivate First Class · April 24, 1966
From Albany
- JOSEPH EARNEST HIPPPrivate First Class · January 11, 1966
- BENJAMIN GEORGE SPEARSSergeant · March 7, 1966
- GLEN EVERETT WALLACEStaff Sergeant · May 19, 1966
- ROBERT LEE BARNESPrivate First Class · July 9, 1966
- ROBERT LEE DORSEYSergeant · August 16, 1966
- JOSEPH HUBERT GOINGS JRPrivate First Class · May 14, 1967
- DONNIE COLEMANSpecialist Four · September 7, 1967
- MARVIN ROYCE DAVISSergeant · December 15, 1967
- WILLIE JACKSONPrivate First Class · February 22, 1968
- CHARLIE K WOODENSergeant · April 11, 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.