The Wall › Panel 30W › West Virginia › Billy Dean Thomas
BILLY DEAN THOMAS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
April 30, 1948 – March 7, 1969
Service recordBilly Dean Thomas, of Bens Run, West Virginia, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 7, 1969, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 30W, Line 70 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30W · Line 70
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- April 30, 1948
- Home of record
- Bens Run, West Virginia (Tyler County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 7, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date March 7, 1969; two of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 156 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 30W, Line 70
- LARRY R TENDAPrivate First Class ·
- NELSON LEE SMITHFirst Lieutenant · March 7, 1969
- ROGER JAMES SPENCESergeant · March 7, 1969
- LEE DANIEL THOMASSpecialist Four · March 7, 1969
- TERRANCE LEE WEANTSpecialist Four · March 7, 1969
Same unit, same day
- JAMES EDWARD KINNARDSpecialist Four · Panel 30W, Line 66
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.