Gerald Francis Ayres

Vietnam War
Unit16th Special Operations Squadron
RankMajor U.S. Air Force
Entered Service FromNew Castle Delaware
Date of DeathJune 18 1972
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
A
Notes
Major Ayres was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron, Ubon, Thailand. On June 18, 1972, he was a crew member of a Spectre Attack Aircraft Gunship II (AC-130C) on a mission near the A Shau Valley, South Vietnam. During the mission the aircraft was hit by a surface to air missile and crashed near the border of Laos. His remains were recovered on October 5, 1993 and identified on October 12, 1994. 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.