Donald Nellis Thoresen

Vietnam War
UnitObservation Squadron 67
RankAviation Machinist's Mate (Jet) Second Class U.S. Navy
Entered Service FromDetroit Michigan
Date of DeathJanuary 11 1968
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
B
Notes
Aviation Machinist's Mate (Jet), Second Class Thoresen was a member of Observation Squadron 67 located at the Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. On January 11, 1968, he was a crewman of a Lockheed Neptune Observation Patrol Aircraft (OP-2E) on an armed reconnaissance over Laos. The aircraft crashed on the northern side of a 4,583 foot cliff about 15 kilometers northeast of Ban Nalouangnau, Khammouane Province, Laos. His remains were recovered on July 10, 2001 and identified on May 20, 2003. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.