The Wall › Panel 9E › Michigan › William Humphrey Nelson
WILLIAM HUMPHREY NELSON
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
September 24, 1917 – July 20, 1966
Service recordWilliam Humphrey Nelson, of Filion, Michigan, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He died on July 20, 1966, in North Vietnam, at age 48. His name is inscribed on Panel 9E, Line 48 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 9E · Line 48
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Air Commander (0061)
- Born
- September 24, 1917
- Home of record
- Filion, Michigan (Huron County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 20, 1966
- Age
- 48
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
32 names on the Wall carry the date July 20, 1966. In July 1966, 562 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.
Also on Panel 9E, Line 48
- MERRILL RAYMOND LEWIS JRColonel · May 25, 1966
- RONALD JAY KINKEADEChief Warrant Officer 2 · July 20, 1966
- DANIEL ALVEY LAMBDINChief Warrant Officer 2 · July 20, 1966
- ERNEST DARRELL MITCHELLPrivate First Class · July 20, 1966
From Filion
- WILLIAM GALAN DAVIDSONPrivate First Class · November 11, 1967
- JACK LEE CONNORSPrivate First Class · August 21, 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.