The Wall › Panel 41E › North Carolina › James Ernest Thomas
JAMES ERNEST THOMAS
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
December 27, 1936 – February 28, 1968
Service recordJames Ernest Thomas, of Greensboro, North Carolina, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 28, 1968, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 31. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 74 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 74
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 199 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- December 27, 1936
- Home of record
- Greensboro, North Carolina (Guilford County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1968
- Age
- 31
- Province
- Binh Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
91 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1968; he was the only one lost in Binh Long Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 199th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 42 of its members that month.
He died in Binh Long 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 41E, Line 74
- ALLAN DEAN MASTELLERSpecialist Four · February 28, 1968
- CHARLES OTTO SPILLMANPetty Officer First Class · February 28, 1968
- EMMETT CHARLES STANTONPrivate First Class · February 28, 1968
- THOMAS STEGMANLieutenant Commander · February 28, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT WILLIAM LAUZONSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 68
- GENE CALVIN REIDSpecialist Four · Panel 42E, Line 1
From Greensboro
- GLENN CHARLES DYERFirst Lieutenant · October 26, 1964
- THOMAS MONROE CROWPrivate First Class · August 24, 1965
- ALVIN C SLIGHPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- GENTRY GRAHAMSpecialist Four · February 24, 1966
- JAMES HAMPTON EDGESpecialist Four · March 5, 1966
- ROGER WARDELL JENKINSPrivate First Class · April 30, 1966
- RONALD CRAIG LOVETTPrivate First Class · June 12, 1966
- JAMES SHREVE HALLChief Master Sergeant · July 29, 1966
- CHESTER DECATUR FEWELLPrivate First Class · January 9, 1967
- BILLY WAYNE FLYNNSecond Lieutenant · January 23, 1967
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.