The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A mother and child are evacuated from Kon Tum to Pleiku during the Easter Offensive, 4 May 1972.
A mother and child are evacuated from Kon Tum to Pleiku during the Easter Offensive, 4 May 1972. Photo: 1LT Stacy Stewart, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Barry Coley Tomlin.

The Wall › Panel 1W › Alabama › Barry Coley Tomlin

BARRY COLEY TOMLIN

Captain · U.S. Army

September 10, 1946 – May 10, 1972

Service record

Barry Coley Tomlin, of Childersburg, Alabama, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on May 10, 1972, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 23 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 1W · Line 23

Position of Panel 1W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.

Remember

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Service

Branch
U.S. Army
Rank
Captain (CPT)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Occupation
Air Observation Pilot (1981)
Unit (as recorded)
1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born
September 10, 1946
Home of record
Childersburg, Alabama (Talladega County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 10, 1972
Age
25
Province
Bien Hoa
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — crew

Context · from the records

What was happening

38 names on the Wall carry the date May 10, 1972; 34 of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In May 1972, 113 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 41 of its members that month.

He died in Bien Hoa Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.

Also on Panel 1W, Line 23

Same unit, same day

From Childersburg

Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.