Frank Neil Badolati, age 32, from Hillsborough County Goffstown, New Hampshire .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, January 29, 1966
Death details: On January 28, 1966, a six-man reconnaissance patrol in An Lao Valley, Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, came under fire and one man was severely wounded. The patrol departed the area to tend to the man’s wounds but was immediately attacked again. After returning fire, the patrol moved on but was unable to repel ongoing enemy attacks. On January 29, in an attempt to evade the enemy, the patrol separated into two three-man groups. One man was eventually rescued by helicopter; however, the other five patrol members were lost at different times over the two-day period as they maneuvered away from the enemy. Searches for the five missing patrol members were unsuccessful. Staff Sergeant Frank Neil Badolati entered the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and served in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group. He was a member of this reconnaissance team when it came under attack on January 28, 1966, and was later killed by enemy fire on January 29. His remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Staff Sergeant Badolati 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
