The Wall › Panel 29E › Illinois › James Oliver Thomas
JAMES OLIVER THOMAS
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
July 25, 1947 – November 7, 1967
Service recordJames Oliver Thomas, of Fieldon, Illinois, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on November 7, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 29E, Line 45 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 29E · Line 45
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)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- July 25, 1947
- Home of record
- Fieldon, Illinois (Jersey County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 7, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date November 7, 1967; nine of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 142 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 29E, Line 45
- RONALD GILBERT STOLTENOWPrivate First Class · November 7, 1967
- ROBERT FRANCIS STRYKERSpecialist Four · November 7, 1967
- ESTEBAN WALLACE TADENAStaff Sergeant · November 7, 1967
- GAIL WARD THOMSENPrivate First Class · November 7, 1967
Same unit, same day
- DONALD R CAMPBELLSpecialist Four · Panel 29E, Line 42
- GREGORY WALTER MCFADDENPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 42
- HENRY HERBERT MCGEEStaff Sergeant · Panel 29E, Line 42
- DENNIS EUGENE MOOREPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 42
- JESSE JAMES PEARSONPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 43
- KRAG BARRY ROYDESPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 43
- WILLIAM R RUSSPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 43
- SECUNDINO GARCIA SOSA JRPrivate First Class · Panel 29E, Line 44
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.