Orell, Quinlan Robert
Navy Captain

Quinlan Robert Orell from Barnesville, Ohio, Belmont county. Their last known residence was in Barnesville.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: October 13, 1968
Death details: On October 13, 1968, an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 154141) with two crew members conducted an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. While returning from the mission, the Intruder’s crew radioed that they were being tracked by enemy missile control radar. The electronic warfare officer aboard another aircraft immediately jammed the radar, and the Intruder’s crew reported that they were no longer being tracked. This was the last communication made with the Intruder, which never returned from the mission. Search efforts for the Intruder failed to locate any sign of the aircraft or its crew.

Commander Quinlan Roberts Orell, who joined the U.S. Navy from Ohio, was a member of Attack Squadron 52. He was the pilot of the Intruder when it went missing, and was lost with the aircraft. He remains unaccounted for. After the incident, the Navy promoted CDR Orell to the rank of Captain (CAPT). Today, Captain Orell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency