The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William George Bennett.

The Wall › Panel 25E › Alabama › William George Bennett

WILLIAM GEORGE BENNETT

Colonel · U.S. Air Force

September 15, 1927 – September 2, 1967

Service record

William George Bennett, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on September 2, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 39. His name is inscribed on Panel 25E, Line 81 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 25E · Line 81

Position of Panel 25E 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
Colonel (COL)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Unit (as recorded)
333 TFS TAKHLI AB
Born
September 15, 1927
Home of record
Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)

Casualty

Date of death
September 2, 1967
Age
39
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

50 names on the Wall carry the date September 2, 1967. In September 1967, 929 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.

Also on Panel 25E, Line 81

From Birmingham

All 160 names from Birmingham →

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.