The Wall › Panel 26E › Indiana › William Lee Nellans
WILLIAM LEE NELLANS
Major · U.S. Air Force
December 29, 1936 – September 17, 1967
Service recordWilliam Lee Nellans, of Warsaw, Indiana, served as a Major in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 17, 1967, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 26E, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 26E · Line 85
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
- Major (MAJ)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Pilot (1325R)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 12 TRS 460 TRW
- Born
- December 29, 1936
- Home of record
- Warsaw, Indiana (Kosciusko County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 17, 1967
- 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
29 names on the Wall carry the date September 17, 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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 26E, Line 85
- STEPHEN JOHN MELNICKSpecialist Four · September 17, 1967
- CLYDE EVERTTE PAUL JRSergeant · September 17, 1967
- JOHN CHARLES PEELPrivate First Class · September 17, 1967
From Warsaw
- ROBERT EUGENE TAYLORSergeant · November 5, 1966
- RUSSELL ARDEN POORLieutenant Colonel · February 4, 1967
- JAMES LEE FOREMANSergeant · May 18, 1967
- CHARLES LYNN BANEYSergeant · October 15, 1967
- PHILLIP LANS LACKEYSpecialist Four · May 9, 1968
- MICHAEL ALLEN RANDALL SRPrivate First Class · October 21, 1968
- WILLARD CLINTON DEBOLTCorporal · March 31, 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.