Gary Phelps Offutt ★ Vietnam War Gold Star Veteran from Missouri
On October 1, 1965 First Lieutenant Offutt was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. ★ He served with honor in the United States Air Force. ★ He is remembered by the people of Missouri. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Click to Submit Update Request for this Fallen Service Member▼ Content Integrity Note
Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of Gary Phelps Offutt is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2016-09-10 14:55:28.
Missing : Core Data
· Date of tour or service
Missing : Supplemental Data
· Birth + childhood location· Educational background
· Marriage history
· Parents, family history
· Expanded references and citations
Service Details
| This Profile ID | 290779 |
| Service ID | 3131108 |
| Name | Gary Phelps Offutt |
| From | Stewartsville, DeKalb County, Missouri |
| Birth Date | April 4, 1940 |
| Casualty Date | October 1, 1965 |
| War | Vietnam War |
| Service Branch | Air Force |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Specialty | Pilot |
| Unit/Group | 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing, 13th Air Force |
| Casualty Type | Died through hostile action .. air crash on land .. body subsequently recovered |
| Location | South Vietnam, Phong Dinh province |
| Burial | Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial and Cameron Memory Gardens, Missouri |
| Notable Awards |
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart |
| Remembered | 
Gary Phelps Offutt is buried or memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial and Cameron Memory Gardens, Missouri. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.  Gary is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 02e, Line 101. |
Additional Details
First Lieutenant Offutt had been living in Stewartville, MO when he enlisted and was a member of the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On October 1, 1965, he was the pilot of a North American Super Sabre Fighter (F-100D) on a strafing mission near Can Tho, South Vietnam when his aircraft was hit by hostile fire and went into a dive. He was unable to eject before crashing into the ground. His remains were recovered on April 11, 1995 and identified on March 6, 1997. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ United States Aviator Badge Air Force
★ National Defense Service Medal
★ Vietnam Campaign Medal
★ Vietnam Service Medal
★ Air Force Presidential Unit Citation
★ Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.Missouri Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of Missouri who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ Missouri was home to over 9,853 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 2,885 World War I
• 4,591 World War II
• 962 Korean War
• 1,414 Vietnam War
• 286 Prisoners of war
• 2,564 Missing in action
• 105 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 77 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 10 Medal of Honor recipients
• 4,591 World War II
• 962 Korean War
• 1,414 Vietnam War
• 286 Prisoners of war
• 2,564 Missing in action
• 105 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 77 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 10 Medal of Honor recipients
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▼ Organizational Supporters - HonorStates.org and the National Unified Archive of American Gold Star Veterans is stringently curated. This attention to quality extends to our supporters program. We carefully research and screen prospective organizations we perceive as being suitably aligned with our mission
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
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