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 Leslie Tromp.

The Wall › Panel 6E › Michigan › William Leslie Tromp

WILLIAM LESLIE TROMP

Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy

August 24, 1941 – April 17, 1966

Service record

William Leslie Tromp, of Fennville, Michigan, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on April 17, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 6E, Line 120 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 6E · Line 120

Position of Panel 6E 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. Navy
Rank
Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Url Pilot (1315)
Unit (as recorded)
VA 115
Born
August 24, 1941
Home of record
Fennville, Michigan (Allegan County)

Casualty

Date of loss
April 17, 1966
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Declared Dead
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
First reported
Captured / prisoner of war
Remains
Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record

Context · from the records

What was happening

Six names on the Wall carry the date April 17, 1966. In April 1966, 406 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 6E, Line 120

From Fennville

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.