The Wall › Panel 42E › Minnesota › John Alfred Thotland
JOHN ALFRED THOTLAND
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
October 11, 1947 – February 28, 1968
Service recordJohn Alfred Thotland, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 28, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 1 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 1
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- October 11, 1947
- Home of record
- Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hennepin County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 28, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
Context · from the records
What was happening
91 names on the Wall carry the date February 28, 1968; 29 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 42E, Line 1
- GENE CALVIN REIDSpecialist Four · February 28, 1968
- JIMMIE LESTER TODDMaster Sergeant · February 28, 1968
- WILLIAM OLIVER TURNERCorporal · February 28, 1968
- WALTER WILBER VAILTechnical Sergeant · February 28, 1968
- ROBERT EARL WESLEYStaff Sergeant · February 28, 1968
From Minneapolis
- WILLIAM EDWARD SWANSONLieutenant · April 11, 1965
- MICHAEL JOHN ULICSNIPetty Officer First Class · September 8, 1964
- DENNIS LEROY PIERSONPrivate First Class · June 26, 1965
- DON GLENN KNOWLTONWarrant Officer 1 · October 20, 1965
- ROGER MICHAEL MANNIESergeant · October 28, 1965
- TRENT RICHARD POWERSCaptain · October 31, 1965
- DAVID LEONARD UGLANDSecond Lieutenant · November 8, 1965
- WILLIAM MARTIN SAVORENLance Corporal · November 25, 1965
- LAWRENCE FREDRICK RAMAKERSpecialist Four · December 10, 1965
- THOMAS NEWTON SLOANTechnical Sergeant · December 17, 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.