The Wall › Panel 39E › Texas › Lowell Thomas Combs
LOWELL THOMAS COMBS
Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
June 24, 1945 – February 14, 1968
Service recordLowell Thomas Combs, of San Antonio, Texas, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 14, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 30 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 30
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Unit (as recorded)
- K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV
- Born
- June 24, 1945
- Home of record
- San Antonio, Texas (Bexar County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 14, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
71 names on the Wall carry the date February 14, 1968; 20 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “K CO 3 BN 9 MAR 3 MARDIV”, his unit in the record, lost 7 of its members that month.
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 39E, Line 30
- FRANK PHILIP CAPUANOCorporal · February 14, 1968
- BEN ELMORE CAUSEY JRCorporal · February 14, 1968
- JEHU JUNIS COX JRPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
- RODOLFO DELEONPrivate First Class · February 14, 1968
Same unit, same day
- DENNIS K FLEMINGCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 32
- MELVIN LEWIS JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 34
- WILLIAM ROBERT REESESecond Lieutenant · Panel 39E, Line 38
- BARRY LANE RIGSBYPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 38
- DAVID FRANCIS SCHNEIDERCorporal · Panel 39E, Line 39
- JEFFREY RAYMOND WENTZELLLance Corporal · Panel 39E, Line 41
From San Antonio
- JOHN DUARTEPrivate First Class · January 20, 1963
- ROBERT LOUIS RAGSDALESecond Lieutenant · June 26, 1964
- DELBERT LEE VAUGHN JRStaff Sergeant · October 4, 1964
- ARTHUR DALE BAKERMajor · April 7, 1965
- JESSE RODRIQUEZ ACOSTAStaff Sergeant · May 16, 1965
- RUDOLPH VILLALP HERNANDEZPrivate · July 7, 1965
- VIRGIL GALAN CRUZLance Corporal · September 28, 1965
- ROBERT WAYNE WRANOSKYCaptain · December 7, 1965
- BILLIE JACK CARTWRIGHTCaptain · December 12, 1965
- JOSE ANTONIO GUTIERREZSpecialist Four · January 28, 1966
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.