James Atlee Wheeler

Vietnam War
Unit1st Air Commando Squadron, Pleiku
RankCaptain U.S. Air Force
Entered Service FromTucson Arizona
Date of DeathApril 18 1965
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
A
Notes
Captain Wheeler was a member of the 1st Air Commando Squadron at Pleiku Airfield, South Vietnam. On April 18, 1965, he was the pilot of a Douglas Skyraider Attack Aircraft (A1-E) on an interdiction mission about 10 miles south of Tinh Bien, Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam. When he released a fragmentation bomb, it detonated immediately destroying his aircraft. His remains were recovered on April 28, 1998 and identified on October 30, 2001. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.