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 Joseph Thomas.

The Wall › Panel 12W › Montana › Robert Joseph Thomas

ROBERT JOSEPH THOMAS

Lieutenant Colonel · U.S. Army

January 10, 1930 – March 17, 1970

Service record

Robert Joseph Thomas, of Anaconda, Montana, served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. He died on March 17, 1970, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 40. His name is inscribed on Panel 12W, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 12W · Line 15

Position of Panel 12W 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
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)
Service
Regular
Unit (as recorded)
AMERICAL DIV
Born
January 10, 1930
Home of record
Anaconda, Montana (Deer Lodge County)

Casualty

Date of death
March 17, 1970
Age
40
Province
Quang Tin
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Non-hostile
Category
Accident
Circumstance
Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)

Context · from the records

What was happening

22 names on the Wall carry the date March 17, 1970; two of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In March 1970, 625 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 21 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 12W, Line 15

Same unit, same day

From Anaconda

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.