The Wall › Panel 10W › Ohio › Thomas Bruce Merriman
THOMAS BRUCE MERRIMAN
Sergeant · U.S. Army
September 25, 1948 – May 10, 1970
Service recordThomas Bruce Merriman, of Paulding, Ohio, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 10, 1970, in Cambodia, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 10W, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 10W · Line 13
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- September 25, 1948
- Home of record
- Paulding, Ohio (Paulding County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 10, 1970
- Age
- 21
- Country
- Cambodia
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
30 names on the Wall carry the date May 10, 1970. In May 1970, 917 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 170 of its members that month.
He died in Cambodia while the Cambodian incursion was under way. From 29 April to 30 June 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese base areas and supply caches; the announcement set off campus protests, including at Kent State.
Also on Panel 10W, Line 13
- ROBERT BENJAMIN LUTHERCorporal · May 10, 1970
- CLIFFORD F MACOMBER JRSergeant · May 10, 1970
- JOHN STERLING MELIUSPrivate First Class · May 10, 1970
- RALPH OLIVER MURPHY IIICorporal · May 10, 1970
Same unit, same day
- LAWRENCE NEIL DEBOERSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 11
- JAMES EDWARD DEBREWCorporal · Panel 10W, Line 11
- FREDERICK WILLIAM HARMS JRSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 12
- ERNEST LAWRENCE MOORESergeant · Panel 10W, Line 14
- LESLIE HALASZ SABO JRSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 15
- RONALD OWEN SMILEYFirst Lieutenant · Panel 10W, Line 15
- DONALD WOODROW SMITHSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 16
- LESLIE JOE WILBANKSSergeant · Panel 10W, Line 16
From Paulding
- DAVID RONALD DEVERS SRCaptain · August 13, 1966
- EVERETT EUGENE JOHNSON JRSecond Lieutenant · May 19, 1967
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.