The Wall › Panel 38W › Iowa › Melvin Eugene Thompson
MELVIN EUGENE THOMPSON
Corporal · U.S. Army
February 19, 1948 – November 21, 1968
Service recordMelvin Eugene Thompson, of Fonda, Iowa, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on November 21, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 38W, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38W · 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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 11 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- February 19, 1948
- Home of record
- Fonda, Iowa (Pocahontas County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 21, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date November 21, 1968; two of them were lost in Quảng Ngãi Province. In November 1968, 918 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 11th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 38W, Line 31
- THOMAS LEE STANLEYSpecialist Four · November 21, 1968
- ROBERT LEE STOREYWarrant Officer 1 · November 21, 1968
- ANTHONY FELIX WASHINGTONStaff Sergeant · November 21, 1968
- WILLIAM SCOTT WATTSCaptain · November 21, 1968
Same unit, same day
- THOMAS LEE STANLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 38W, Line 31
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.