The Wall › Panel 5E › Montana › William Murre Christensen
WILLIAM MURRE CHRISTENSEN
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
August 19, 1940 – March 1, 1966
Service recordWilliam Murre Christensen, of Great Falls, Montana, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on March 1, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 5E, Line 93 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5E · Line 93
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 (1325)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VF 143
- Born
- August 19, 1940
- Home of record
- Great Falls, Montana (Cascade County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- March 1, 1966
- 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
11 names on the Wall carry the date March 1, 1966. In March 1966, 564 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VF 143”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
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
On the Wall
Also on Panel 5E, Line 93
- LEONARD JOSEPH BOCEKPrivate · March 1, 1966
- WILLIAM PATRICK FORANLance Corporal · March 1, 1966
- WILLIAM DAVID FRAWLEYLieutenant Commander · March 1, 1966
- LONNIE RALPH KINGCorporal · March 1, 1966
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM DAVID FRAWLEYLieutenant Commander · Panel 5E, Line 93
From Great Falls
- JOE DAVID KEGLEYPrivate First Class · July 27, 1966
- ROGER PAUL RICHARDSONCaptain · March 9, 1967
- STEPHEN CARL NELSONPrivate First Class · April 25, 1967
- JOSEPH GORDON KLEMENCICPrivate First Class · May 9, 1967
- LYLE ALBERT JOHNSONCaptain · October 5, 1967
- WILLIAM MICHAEL JOHNSONPrivate First Class · July 13, 1968
- MICHAEL FRANC HENDRICKSONFirst Lieutenant · July 25, 1968
- GLENN CHARLES FISHSergeant · August 27, 1968
- FRANKLIN NEWTON CURLStaff Sergeant · November 9, 1968
- RAYMOND ALLEN COLECorporal · February 23, 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.