The Wall › Panel 41E › Pennsylvania › James Vincent Thornton
JAMES VINCENT THORNTON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
April 29, 1947 – February 25, 1968
Service recordJames Vincent Thornton, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 25, 1968, in Long An Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 31
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
- Armor Reconnaissance Specialist (11D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 199 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- April 29, 1947
- Home of record
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 25, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Long An
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 25, 1968; two of them were lost in Long An Province. 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 Long An 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 41E, Line 31
- NATHAN LYEN ROBINSONSergeant · February 25, 1968
- FRANK ADAM SZYMANSKI IVPrivate First Class · February 25, 1968
- CLAYTON JOSEPH THEYERLPrivate First Class · February 25, 1968
- GERALD FRANCIS TRACYSpecialist Four · February 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- THOMAS JOSEPH COONEYSecond Lieutenant · Panel 41E, Line 20
- RICHARD J FAULKNERSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 20
- NATHAN LYEN ROBINSONSergeant · Panel 41E, Line 31
- BARRY MILTON WOPINSKIPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 34
From Philadelphia
- MEIR ENGELLieutenant Colonel · December 16, 1964
- MATTHEW N HARRIS JRMaster Sergeant · May 28, 1965
- ALLEN CONRAD HERTZFirst Lieutenant · June 6, 1965
- MILO BENETT STIBBINSSpecialist Five · June 11, 1965
- JOSEPH PATRICK GRUGANCorporal · June 26, 1965
- ROWLAND JOSEPH ADAMOLICorporal · August 18, 1965
- FRANK AMOS HENISSPrivate First Class · September 7, 1965
- EARL CHARLES WILLOUGHBYChief Master Sergeant · September 7, 1965
- WILLIAM A MITCHELL IIPetty Officer Third Class · September 12, 1965
- WILLIAM GREGORY MAURONEPrivate First Class · September 30, 1965
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.