The Wall › Panel 39E › North Carolina › Pearly Junior Thomas
PEARLY JUNIOR THOMAS
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
June 1, 1937 – February 16, 1968
Service recordPearly Junior Thomas, of Tabor City, North Carolina, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 16, 1968, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 67 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 67
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- June 1, 1937
- Home of record
- Tabor City, North Carolina (Columbus County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 16, 1968
- Age
- 30
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
61 names on the Wall carry the date February 16, 1968; two of them were lost in Pleiku Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 4th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 140 of its members that month.
He died in Pleiku 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 39E, Line 67
- JOSEPH VICTOR SPELLMANSpecialist Four · February 16, 1968
- DANIEL MELVIN STONEPrivate First Class · February 16, 1968
- ROBERT BRIAN THOMSONCorporal · February 16, 1968
- JIMMY ELLISON TOLLIVERStaff Sergeant · February 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WILLIAM LEONARD GREENWELLPlatoon Sergeant · Panel 39E, Line 60
- BENNIE EUGENE MCCORKLESpecialist Four · Panel 39E, Line 64
- JOHN KENNETH RIPELPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 65
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.