The Wall › Panel 48W › Texas › William Elmo Powell
WILLIAM ELMO POWELL
Captain · U.S. Air Force
December 10, 1942 – August 17, 1968
Service recordWilliam Elmo Powell, of Gatesville, Texas, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on August 17, 1968, in North Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 48W, Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 48W · Line 35
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Born
- December 10, 1942
- Home of record
- Gatesville, Texas (Coryell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 17, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
23 names on the Wall carry the date August 17, 1968. In August 1968, 1,313 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 48W, Line 35
- LEON ALTON PALMERSergeant · August 17, 1968
- WALTER SEALSSergeant · August 17, 1968
- JOSEPH R STEINER IIISergeant · August 17, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES THOMASPrivate First Class · August 17, 1968
From Gatesville
- JAMES GARLAND BROWNLance Corporal · July 5, 1966
- TOMMIE LEE SYMANKSpecialist Five · March 14, 1968
- CHARLES DAVID JAGELERCaptain · October 9, 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.