The Wall › Panel 62W › New Jersey › Joseph Merel Thorn
JOSEPH MEREL THORN
Corporal · U.S. Army
March 21, 1950 – May 31, 1968
Service recordJoseph Merel Thorn, of Bordentown, New Jersey, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on May 31, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 62W, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 62W · Line 18
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- March 21, 1950
- Home of record
- Bordentown, New Jersey (Burlington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 31, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
79 names on the Wall carry the date May 31, 1968; four of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 151 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 62W, Line 18
- LOREN FRANCIS STUDERPetty Officer Second Class · May 31, 1968
- DARWIN CLIFFORD STURTZCorporal · May 31, 1968
- JIMMY RAY THOMASPrivate First Class · May 31, 1968
- DONALD RAY TRANTHAMLance Corporal · May 31, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOHN WESTLEY BOWDENSergeant · Panel 62W, Line 5
- DONALD ROBERT MILLERCorporal · Panel 62W, Line 13
- JEFF MULKEYCorporal · Panel 62W, Line 14
From Bordentown
- JOHN CHARLES HAINES JRChief Petty Officer · March 7, 1967
- JOHN FREDRICK BRADMANFirst Lieutenant · February 18, 1970
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.