The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Robert Eugene Thompson.

The Wall › Panel 29W › California › Robert Eugene Thompson

ROBERT EUGENE THOMPSON

Corporal · U.S. Army

January 25, 1948 – March 20, 1969

Service record

Robert Eugene Thompson, of Fullerton, California, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on March 20, 1969, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 29W, Line 94 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 29W · Line 94

Position of Panel 29W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
196 LIGHT INF BDE
Born
January 25, 1948
Home of record
Fullerton, California (Orange County)

Casualty

Date of death
March 20, 1969
Age
21
Province
Quang Tin
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

40 names on the Wall carry the date March 20, 1969; ten of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In March 1969, 1,553 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 49 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 29W, Line 94

Same unit, same day

From Fullerton

All 30 names from Fullerton →

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.