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Capt. Lance P. Sijan — Photo: Lance Sijan · USAF Photo · Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Example report · public record

Capt. Lance P. Sijan

An Air Force Academy graduate and F-4C pilot, Sijan was shot down over Laos on 9 November 1967. Badly injured, he evaded capture for about six weeks, escaped once after he was caught, and died a prisoner in North Vietnam in January 1968. He was the first Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor.

Service: U.S. Air Force 1965–1968
Unit: 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing
Conflict: Vietnam War
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Born: 13 April 1942
Died: 22 January 1968 (in captivity)
Honors: Medal of Honor (posthumous)

Summary sources: Wikipedia: Lance Sijan.

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The full automatic report follows. It is a research summary, not an official record. Lines marked "Likely" are labeled guesses.

Service story · researched from public records

Lance Peter Sijan — Air Force, 1965–1968

Born 1942-04-13 · Died 1968-01-22 (in captivity; shot down 1967-11-09)

service number withheld online CONFIRMED

VIETNAM1 RECORD PAGE4 SOURCES CITED

At a glance

Lance Peter Sijan

Confirmed match · Written for family readers — military jargon explained as you go.

Who: Lance Peter Sijan · born 1942-04-13 · died 1968-01-22 in captivity (shot down 1967-11-09)
Service: Air Force · 1965–1968 · service number withheld online
His job: Captain — Pilot (rank and duty as listed in the casualty file)
Where: Milwaukee, WI

Most notable moment (from the records):
Casualty file: declared dead, 1967-11-09, North Vietnam.

Why we matched this record (Confirmed, 121 evidence points)

same last name; first name matches; middle initial matches; same branch; record dated 1967, fits the years given; war listed as Vietnam War; relative POW escape mentioned; home/burial state Wisconsin matches; home of record city Milwaukee matches; independently corroborated by The Virtual Wall (virtualwall.org); public casualty/death profile matched.

Other records that line up:

CONFIRMED Curated public memorial profile (Wikipedia/CMOHS-backed) — same last name; first name matches; same branch; war listed as Vietnam; Medal of Honor on public award record; public casualty/death profile matched; unit listed as 480th TFS
CONFIRMED The Virtual Wall (virtualwall.org) — same last name; first name matches; middle initial matches; same branch; war listed as Vietnam War; relative Medal of Honor mentioned; home/burial state Wisconsin matches; home of record city Milwaukee matches; independently corroborated by Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (DCAS), NARA RG 330
CONFIRMED Congressional Medal of Honor Society — same last name; first name matches; middle initial matches; same branch; war listed as Vietnam; Medal of Honor on public award record; unit listed as 480th TFS
PROBABLE Wikipedia biography (secondary source) — same last name; first name matches; same branch; relative Medal of Honor mentioned

Confirmed = an exact identifier matches. Likely = several independent details match. Possible = some details match; needs checking.

01 · Where he went

His journey on a map

Stops are in date order. The picture below is part of this file (works on iPad preview and offline). Estimated dates are marked date uncertain.

Overview map of Lance Peter Sijan service stops

Overview map(s) embedded in this file (works offline / without JavaScript). Wide service paths use separate regional panels (US / Europe / Pacific). Numbers match the stop list and chapters. The interactive Leaflet map below is optional. PDF mailing copies use these overview maps only.

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Map layers (interactive only)

Street map Aerial imagery (USGS) USGS topographic

Pins mark the general town or field, not a building. Needs network for tiles.

Stops in date order

1. date unknown uncertain — Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. (Birthplace (biography))

02 · Timeline

What the records say, in order

1967-11-09

Public memorial / award record:

Captain, Air Force. from records found CONFIRMED1

1968-01-22

Public memorial / award record:

Captain, Air Force, 480th TFS, Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor; POW escape; Sijan Hall USAFA from records found CONFIRMED2

Wars

Battles/wars: Vietnam WarKIA. PROBABLE4

Awards

Medal of Honor; Distinguished Flying Cross; Purple Heart; Air Medal (6) PROBABLE4

Ranks explained

Every rate he held, decoded

Service records write ranks and rates in dense abbreviations — Army grades such as Pvt/Pfc; Navy rates such as ( S1c(SM) or SM2c(T)). Below is each rate that appears in his records — badge, plain English, pay grade, a rough Army equivalent, and what the specialty did day to day. Badges are diagrammatic WWII-style rating marks (specialty symbol + chevrons), generated for this report so the standalone file works offline.

CAPT rating badge

Rate / rank

CAPT — CAPT

Pay grade: — · Rough Army equivalent: —

What it meant: Enlisted rate as written on the muster roll (OCR may distort the abbreviation).

Day to day (general, not personal): A sailor rated CAPT performed the duties of that specialty on a Navy ship.

Muster-roll abbreviation glossary

Abbreviation	Meaning
`c`	Class — as in S1c = Seaman First Class; 3c/2c/1c = Third/Second/First Class petty officer.
`CAPT`	CAPT

General reference from WWII Navy rating structure and common muster annotations. OCR on scanned rolls can garble letters (S1c↔Slc, MoMM1c↔MoMMlc); always check the page image.

Appendix · Original documents (archive scans)

Scans from the National Archives. Click to enlarge when viewing in a full browser.

Family input

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Notable stories

Why his name is remembered

Lance Sijan in the public record

Official casualty file: Capt Lance Peter Sijan; Air Force; home of record Milwaukee, Wisconsin; duty: pilot; incident/death date 1967-11-09; in North Vietnam; declared dead. — Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (DCAS), NARA RG 330

Name on The Wall, panel 29E; unit 480TH TAC FTR SQDN, 366TH TAC FTR WING, 7TH AF; MOS 1115R: Pilot, Tactical Fighter, Pilot Systems Operator, (F-4 Phantom II) (Rear Seat Operator or Guy in Back). — The Virtual Wall (virtualwall.org)

Remembrance: He was then transferred to another prison camp where he was kept in solitary confinement and interrogated at length. — The Virtual Wall (virtualwall.org) (posted remembrance)

Remembrance: He was the kind of man who enobles ALL of humankind; whose very nature was the definition of courage, hope, and strength. — The Virtual Wall (virtualwall.org) (posted remembrance)

Ejection, evasion, and the Hanoi prisons

Capt. Lance P. Sijan ejected over Laos in 1967, severely injured, evaded capture, escaped after being taken, and died in Hỏa Lò (Hanoi Hilton) in January 1968. He received the Medal of Honor; the Air Force Academy’s Sijan Hall is named for him. — CMOHS / USAFA

CMOHS: Lance P. Sijan ↗

Medal of Honor

Lance Sijan was awarded the Medal of Honor. See the citation links below for the official account of the action. — Award record / CMOHS

Notable-story text is labeled with sources. Memoir and secondary accounts are marked; primary award citations are preferred when available.

03 · Gaps and next records

What we still don't know

1

Bataan Death March claim: N/A. No Bataan claim text.

2

No VA-maintained burial record found under this name. Private-cemetery government headstones before 1997 are often missing from the VA dataset.

3

Discharge date, decorations and full unit list are in the personnel file (request with SF-180; a DD-214 copy from the family can be decoded here).

NEXT

SF-180 / eVetRecs

Request his Official Military Personnel File (next of kin can request free).

NEXT

Headstone application

NARA series 'Applications for Headstones, 1925–1963' (and later VA files) often give serial, unit and dates.

NEXT

County discharge record

Many veterans recorded their discharge at the county clerk after the war — ask the county where he lived.

NEXT

Draft card

WWII draft cards (FamilySearch, free account) give birth date, address, employer and next of kin.

04 · Sources

1 Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (DCAS), NARA RG 330 — https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=2513&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=27435,27438,27439,27445,27447,27448,27450,27468,27423&bc=,sl,fd&txt_27438=SIJAN+LANCE&op_27438=0&nfo_27438=V,40,1900&rpp=200&pg=1&rid=47437
2 Curated public memorial profile (Wikipedia/CMOHS-backed) — https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lance-p-sijan
3 Congressional Medal of Honor Society — https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/lance-p-sijan
4 Wikipedia: Lance Sijan (secondary source) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Sijan

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Not affiliated with the VA, National Archives or Department of Defense. Not an official record, and not for benefits, medals or burial claims. Official copies are free from the National Personnel Records Center via SF-180. Lines marked "Likely" are labeled guesses.