The Wall › Panel 42E › California › Thomas Charles Gosch
THOMAS CHARLES GOSCH
First Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
December 14, 1933 – March 1, 1968
Service recordThomas Charles Gosch, of Oceanside, California, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on March 1, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 34. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 17 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 17
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- First Lieutenant (1STLT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Assault Amphibious Vehicle (Aav) Officer (I) (1803)
- Born
- December 14, 1933
- Home of record
- Oceanside, California (San Diego County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 1, 1968
- Age
- 34
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
70 names on the Wall carry the date March 1, 1968; 30 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 42E, Line 17
- PAUL WALTER HEINZPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- JOHN CHARLES HILLPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- NATHANIEL HOLMESPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
- MICHAEL WILLIAM HOLZMANPrivate First Class · March 1, 1968
From Oceanside
- JOHN HARVEY HOEFFSSpecialist Four · November 28, 1966
- WAYNE NORMAN HAYESSergeant Major · February 28, 1967
- DON MELVIN PERDUESergeant · May 25, 1967
- WILLIAM BYRON STUTESSergeant · September 10, 1967
- TUIOALELE T SUIAUNOASergeant First Class · January 30, 1968
- DOUGLAS N MCKENZIE IICorporal · March 8, 1968
- VIANE SOFENI MISAPrivate First Class · March 18, 1968
- THOMAS SAMUEL ALFREDPrivate · April 23, 1968
- DANIEL RALPH BROPHYSpecialist Four · June 24, 1968
- CHRISTOPHER GARCIAPrivate First Class · July 22, 1968
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.