Wheeling West Virginia

David Wallace Wickham II, age 31, from Wheeling, West Virginia, Ohio county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, December 16, 1965
Death details: Lieutenant David Wallace Wickham II entered the U.S. Navy from West Virginia and served in Attack Squadron 113, embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63). On December 16, 1965, he was piloting a single-seat A-4C Skyhawk (bureau number 148510) and attempting to make a night landing aboard the Kitty Hawk in bad weather. During the final part of his approach, LT Wickham’s aircraft’s nose and left wing dropped slightly. The aircraft struck the flight deck and began to skid along its left wing before an explosion occurred. A major portion of the aircraft, including the cockpit with LT Wickham still inside, was lost over the side of the flight deck after the blast in the vicinity of (GC) 49Q BV 500 500. An extensive search for the aircraft and LT Wickham was conducted, but found no evidence of his remains. Further attempts to locate him were unsuccessful. Today, Lieutenant Wickham is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency