Shain, Elwin R. – KIA

“Elwin Roy Shain grew up in Iowa City where he graduated from City High in the class of 1949. While in high school Shain participated in several sports including basketball, football, and baseball. He went on to attend West Point. He won five varsity letters in football and baseball and later served on the coaching staff of the Air Force Academy. He briefly worked as a physical education instructor at the Air Force Academy.

He specialized as a pilot of F-100 fighter jets. Shain was sent to Vietnam in August 1967 and was stationed at the Bien Hoa Air Base northeast of Saigon. Air Force MAJ Elwin Shain was stationed in the same location as his brother and fellow West Point graduate, Army MAJ Robert Shain. He had logged more than 3,000 flight hours when he was killed in July 1968.” (1)

Flying F-100D # 553608 as Buzzard 6 he was on a strafing mission to hit a bunker supply area when his aircraft was hit in the right wing by gunfire over Phuoc Long province.

“MAJ Shain was 36 years old and married [with 3 children] at the time of his death. An annual award was established at City High in Iowa City honoring an athlete each year, who is considered to be a leader in scholarship, athletics, and citizenship.” (1)

Elwin is buried at Memory Gardens, Iowa City, IA, and is honored on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington DC. Name inscribed at VVM Wall, Panel 50w, Line 27.

Sources: Bio info/Photo – HonorStates.org; Addition Awards – vvmf.org; (1) Iowa Veterans Remembrance Project; findagrave.com