The Wall › Panel 32E › Pennsylvania › William Joseph Potter JR
WILLIAM JOSEPH POTTER JR
Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Air Force
September 24, 1935 – December 29, 1967
Service recordWilliam Joseph Potter JR, of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on December 29, 1967, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 32E, Line 96 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 32E · Line 96
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
- Lieutenant Colonel (LTCOL)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Navigator (1535Z)
- Born
- September 24, 1935
- Home of record
- Ambridge, Pennsylvania (Beaver County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- December 29, 1967
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
41 names on the Wall carry the date December 29, 1967. In December 1967, 937 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 32E, Line 96
- JOE EDWARD KINSEYCorporal · December 29, 1967
- EDWIN NELMS OSBORNE JRLieutenant Colonel · December 29, 1967
- FRANK C PARKER IIIMajor · December 29, 1967
- WILLIAM PETROSSI JRCorporal · December 29, 1967
From Ambridge
- SAMUEL LIGHTMANPrivate First Class · November 2, 1966
- BENNIE JOE PAOLANTONIOSpecialist Four · March 20, 1967
- CHARLES WILLIAM SETHSpecialist Four · September 14, 1968
- FRANK ALBERT SKOCICHPrivate First Class · September 17, 1968
- LOUIS RODRIGUEZSergeant First Class · December 20, 1968
- WALTER HERBERT BUCKA JRStaff Sergeant · February 6, 1970
- JOHN ANTHONY OGRIZEKCorporal · September 26, 1970
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.