Lindsey, Marvin Nelson
Air Force Colonel

Marvin Nelson Lindsey, age 36, from Webster County Springhill, Louisiana .

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, June 29, 1965
Death details: Major Marvin Nelson Lindsey entered the U.S. Air Force from Louisiana and served in the 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. On June 29, 1965, he took off in a single-seat RF-101C Voodoo (tail number 56-0040) as the leader in a flight of two on a photo reconnaissance mission over Son La, North Vietnam. Towards the end of Maj Lindsey’s run over the target, his wingman saw the Voodoo take a direct hit from enemy fire and radioed to Maj Lindsey, advising him to eject. Major Lindsey’s aircraft was then seen to roll left and lose a wing as an unidentified object separated from the cockpit area. The wingman entered a cloud, and when he emerged, Maj Lindsey and his aircraft could not be located. Search and rescue efforts detected no rescue beeper signals and found no sign that Maj Lindsey survived any possible crash, and enemy presence in the area prevented ground searches for any signs of wreckage or the missing pilot. Subsequent to the incident, the U.S. Air Force posthumously promoted Maj Lindsey to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Lindsey is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency