The Wall › Panel 19W › Texas › Joseph David Thompson
JOSEPH DAVID THOMPSON
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 16, 1949 – August 20, 1969
Service recordJoseph David Thompson, of Rule, Texas, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on August 20, 1969, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 19W, Line 83 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 19W · Line 83
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Combat Engineer (12B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- A CO 20 ENG BN 937 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE
- Born
- February 16, 1949
- Home of record
- Rule, Texas (Haskell County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 20, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date August 20, 1969; he was the only one lost in Kon Tum Province that day. In August 1969, 962 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “A CO 20 ENG BN 937 ENG GRP 18 ENG BDE”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 19W, Line 83
- DONALD DELMORE TRIPPSpecialist Four · August 20, 1969
- GORDON JAMES TURPIN JRFirst Lieutenant · August 20, 1969
- JAMES RICHARD WALDOWSKIWarrant Officer 1 · August 20, 1969
- RAYMOND LEE WILCOXCorporal · August 20, 1969
From Rule
- ROBERT CLARENCE ROPERGunnery Sergeant · September 21, 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.