The Wall › Panel 37E › North Dakota › William Tod Potter
WILLIAM TOD POTTER
Captain · U.S. Air Force
December 28, 1942 – February 5, 1968
Service recordWilliam Tod Potter, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on February 5, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 37E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 37E · Line 42
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
- Captain (CAPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Pilot (1325F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 14 TRS
- Born
- December 28, 1942
- Home of record
- Grand Forks, North Dakota (Grand Forks County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- February 5, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- 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
83 names on the Wall carry the date February 5, 1968. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “14 TRS”, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
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
Also on Panel 37E, Line 42
- GREGORY ALLAN MUSZALSKISpecialist Four · February 5, 1968
- THEODORE ARTHUR PAPKEWarrant Officer 1 · February 5, 1968
- GERALD F PELZMANNFirst Lieutenant · February 5, 1968
- JAMES EARL PRIDEAUXLance Corporal · February 5, 1968
From Grand Forks
- ROBERT EDWIN SWANSONPrivate First Class · October 26, 1965
- MARTIN WILLIAM STEENMajor · May 31, 1966
- CLIFTON EMMET CUSHMANMajor · September 25, 1966
- EUGENE LOUIS LAVOY JRPrivate · March 3, 1967
- GARY WAYNE LINDSAYLance Corporal · September 7, 1967
- JAMES CHRISTIAN FREIDTPrivate First Class · October 11, 1967
- RICHARD JAMES OLSONPrivate First Class · April 26, 1968
- RICHARD FRANK TRISKESergeant · June 2, 1968
- THOMAS EARL ALDERSONCaptain · October 3, 1968
- MELVIN DENNIS LEMBKEFirst Lieutenant · December 11, 1968
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.