The Wall › Panel 40W › Alabama › Benjamin Arthur Thompson JR
BENJAMIN ARTHUR THOMPSON JR
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
July 24, 1945 – October 25, 1968
Service recordBenjamin Arthur Thompson JR, of Saraland, Alabama, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on October 25, 1968, in Kien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 40W, Line 35 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40W · Line 35
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- July 24, 1945
- Home of record
- Saraland, Alabama (Mobile County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 25, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Kien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date October 25, 1968; he was the only one lost in Kien Hoa Province that day. In October 1968, 821 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 70 of its members that month.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 40W, Line 35
- JAMES GABRIEL SORIANOSergeant · October 25, 1968
- DENNIS ROBERT TRIPPCorporal · October 25, 1968
- MICHAEL ERWIN WITKOPFirst Lieutenant · October 25, 1968
- JAMES AMBLER WRIGHTSergeant · October 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- NORMAN WILLIAM BARTELSCorporal · Panel 40W, Line 31
- JIMMY WAYNE HARDWICKCorporal · Panel 40W, Line 33
- NOEL HURLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 40W, Line 33
- JAMES GARLAND SANDERSSpecialist Five · Panel 40W, Line 34
From Saraland
- HARRY DONALD WOODARDSpecialist Four · April 9, 1966
- JIMMY EDWARD STAMEYSpecialist Four · November 21, 1966
- CLAUDE PAUL MILLERPrivate First Class · July 10, 1967
- LEE ARTICE DIXONLance Corporal · November 7, 1967
- JOHN OLIVER WHITESergeant · January 22, 1968
- BILLY LEE JACKSONStaff Sergeant · April 9, 1968
- ROOSEVELT HURST JRSergeant · July 5, 1968
- LEVI JAMES WILSONSpecialist Four · April 8, 1971
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.