The Wall › Panel 38E › Colorado › Donald R Thompson
DONALD R THOMPSON
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
November 17, 1942 – February 7, 1968
Service recordDonald R Thompson, of Alamosa, Colorado, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on February 7, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 16 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 16
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 Five (SP5)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Field Artillery Repairman (45C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- November 17, 1942
- Home of record
- Alamosa, Colorado (Alamosa County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 7, 1968
- Age
- 25
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
136 names on the Wall carry the date February 7, 1968; seven of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 30 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 38E, Line 16
- BRUCE EDGAR STRATECorporal · February 7, 1968
- LAWRENCE HARRY SWANSONLance Corporal · February 7, 1968
- RONNIE LEE TERRYCorporal · February 7, 1968
- DARRELL CARL TROJAHNPrivate First Class · February 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- EVERETTE R JOHNSONSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 2
From Alamosa
- JOSE HILARIO VELASQUEZPrivate First Class · June 11, 1967
- CHARLES RICHARD BROWNLEEColonel · December 24, 1968
- GORDON MILTON GEORGE JRPrivate First Class · June 9, 1969
- JOHN CLIFFORD WOODCorporal · July 4, 1969
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.