This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell (Unit Historian)
to remember
Wayne, James Clark, Col.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Elkhart, Indiana
Last Address Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam
Casualty Date Oct 28, 1971
Cause Non Hostile- Died of Illness, Other Injury
Reason Heart Attack
Location Gia Dinh (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Aircraft/Missile Information
Fearful that the Soviet Union would deploy a long-range ballistic missile before the United States, in January 1956 the Air Force began developing the Thor, a 1,500 mile (2,400 km) intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The Thor program unfolded with amazing speed, and within 3 years of the program?s inception the first Thor squadron became operational in the UK. One of the advantages of the design was that, unlike the Jupiter IRBM, the Thor could be carried by the USAF's cargo aircraft of the time, which made its deployment more rapid, although the launch facilities were not transportable, and had to be built on site. The Thor was a stop-gap measure, however, and once the first generation of ICBMs based in the United States became operational, existing Thor missiles were quickly retired. The last of the missiles was withdrawn from operational alert in 1963.
