The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
B-52Ds take off from U-Tapao, Thailand, during Linebacker II, December 1972.
B-52Ds take off from U-Tapao, Thailand, during Linebacker II, December 1972. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Robert James Thomas.

The Wall › Panel 1W › Florida › Robert James Thomas

ROBERT JAMES THOMAS

Captain · U.S. Air Force

December 19, 1948 – December 18, 1972

Service record

Robert James Thomas, of Miami, Florida, served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died on December 18, 1972, in North Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 95 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 1W · Line 95

Position of Panel 1W 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. Air Force
Rank
Captain (CAPT)
Service
Reserve / National Guard
Born
December 19, 1948
Home of record
Miami, Florida (Dade County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 18, 1972
Age
23
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown

Context · from the records

What was happening

Five names on the Wall carry the date December 18, 1972. In December 1972, 75 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

He died in North Vietnam while Linebacker II was under way. In Linebacker II (18–29 December 1972), B-52s and fighter-bombers struck Hanoi and Haiphong for eleven days; fifteen B-52s were lost to SA-2 missiles before North Vietnam returned to the Paris talks.

Also on Panel 1W, Line 95

From Miami

All 179 names from Miami →

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.