The Wall › Panel 38E › Missouri › Thomas Alan Backy
THOMAS ALAN BACKY
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 12, 1948 – February 9, 1968
Service recordThomas Alan Backy, of Festus, Missouri, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 9, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 44
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 INF DIV
- Born
- March 12, 1948
- Home of record
- Festus, Missouri (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 9, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
107 names on the Wall carry the date February 9, 1968; 21 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên 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 Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 38E, Line 44
- JOHN R BARFIELDSpecialist Four · February 9, 1968
- ALFRED HARLEN BLEIGH JRSergeant · February 9, 1968
- DARREL ANTHONY BONDROWSKICorporal · February 9, 1968
- CHARLES J CRAWFORD JRSpecialist Six · February 9, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JAMES RICHMOND ANDERSONStaff Sergeant · Panel 38E, Line 43
- WILLIAM EDWARD ANDERSONPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 43
- JAMES JOHN BRENNANSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 45
- SALVADOR M L BANAGA JRPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 47
- STEVEN EUGENE CLARKPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 47
- JOSE G CORTEZSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 47
- DONALD EDWARD DAWSON JRSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 48
- ARNOLD MAX DURYEAPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 48
- CECIL WAYNE EPPSPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 49
- WILLIAM JACOB GOLDBERGPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 49
- NORMAN CHARLES KISSINGERPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 50
- CHARLES EDWIN HOFFMANSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 51
- GREGORY THOMAS IDINGSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 52
- JOHN ALVIN ILSTRUP JRSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 52
- MARK SAMUEL KAYESpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 53
- MICHAEL GEORGE KINDREDPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 53
- RUSSELL WALTER KRILLSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 54
- LONNIE GUY LEBOMBARBSergeant · Panel 38E, Line 54
- CHARLES PATRICK MCCAFFREYPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 56
- JAMES GARRETT MILLERPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 56
- SAMUEL T MCDOWELL JRSecond Lieutenant · Panel 38E, Line 57
- JERRY A NOVAKOVICHSecond Lieutenant · Panel 38E, Line 57
- RICHARD PEREZPrivate First Class · Panel 38E, Line 58
- DAVID DONALD REIDSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 59
From Festus
- GARY W PRATHERPrivate First Class · December 29, 1966
- JOSEPH WALTER MORRISONSpecialist Four · March 14, 1967
- JAMES FRANCIS COLEMANSergeant · February 29, 1968
- FRANCIS EDWIN CORTOR JRSergeant · October 21, 1969
- WILLIAM JOSEPH PERRYMANSpecialist Five · November 19, 1970
- JAMES BRADDOCK HARRISSpecialist Four · April 24, 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.