The Wall › Panel 41E › Illinois › Norman Eugene Thomas
NORMAN EUGENE THOMAS
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Air Force
October 9, 1935 – February 24, 1968
Service recordNorman Eugene Thomas, of Collinsville, Illinois, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He died on February 24, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 32. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 13
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. Air Force
- Rank
- Staff Sergeant (SSGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- October 9, 1935
- Home of record
- Collinsville, Illinois (Madison County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 24, 1968
- Age
- 32
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
45 names on the Wall carry the date February 24, 1968; eight of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Gia Dinh Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 41E, Line 13
- TERRY WAYNE SUTTONPrivate First Class · February 24, 1968
- JULIUS NICHOLAS SZAHLENDERSpecialist Five · February 24, 1968
- WILLIAM ROBERT TRUSTY JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 1968
- M B WALKER JRPrivate First Class · February 24, 1968
From Collinsville
- CHARLES BERNARD LANKFORDStaff Sergeant · October 24, 1963
- ROBERT WILCOX MOODYPrivate First Class · September 16, 1966
- ADAM EDWARD WERSCHINGSergeant · March 2, 1967
- RICHARD LYNN MOOREPrivate First Class · May 17, 1967
- JERRY LEE DODSONLance Corporal · February 25, 1968
- DAVID K DEMATTEISPrivate First Class · March 2, 1968
- LUCKY GAYLEN WHITEPrivate First Class · April 29, 1968
- EDWARD MONROE SIMPSONSergeant · May 11, 1968
- ALVIN LEE EVANOFFSpecialist Four · December 6, 1970
- DAVID PAUL MEYERWarrant Officer 1 · May 7, 1971
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.