The Wall › Panel 3E › Indiana › Thomas Curtis Metsker
THOMAS CURTIS METSKER
Captain · U.S. Army
May 20, 1939 – November 14, 1965
Service recordThomas Curtis Metsker, of Indianapolis, Indiana, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on November 14, 1965, in South Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 3E, Line 49 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 3E · Line 49
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
- Captain (CPT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- May 20, 1939
- Home of record
- Indianapolis, Indiana (Marion County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 14, 1965
- Age
- 26
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
13 names on the Wall carry the date November 14, 1965. In November 1965, 545 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 318 of its members that month.
He died in South Vietnam while the Battle of the Ia Đrăng Valley was under way. In the Ia Đrăng Valley (14–18 November 1965), battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fought North Vietnamese regulars at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany — the first major battle between the two armies and the first great test of the helicopter war. The record gives the date and his unit, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which fought in the battle, but not the exact place.
Read the history
Also on Panel 3E, Line 49
- EDDIE BILLUPS JRAirman · November 3, 1965
- JACK EARL GELLSergeant · November 14, 1965
- BURREL DALE HUEBNERPrivate First Class · November 14, 1965
- FLOYD DEAN JOHNSONPrivate First Class · November 14, 1965
- LYNN ELDON MINCESergeant · November 14, 1965
Same unit, same day
- RALPH A COPELANDSpecialist Four · Panel 3E, Line 48
- JACK EARL GELLSergeant · Panel 3E, Line 49
- GILBERT MICHAEL NICKLASPrivate First Class · Panel 3E, Line 50
From Indianapolis
- JAMES EDWARD CAUGHEYSpecialist Four · August 14, 1964
- CLARENCE LEROY COLEMANSpecialist Five · February 10, 1965
- IVAN RAY SMITHPrivate First Class · May 13, 1965
- KENNETH LEROY REEDStaff Sergeant · June 12, 1965
- JOHN POWERS DAVISSpecialist Five · July 21, 1965
- CURLEY SHERELS JRCorporal · August 18, 1965
- ALVIN CARVER FORNEYCorporal · September 1, 1965
- WILLIAM LARRIE HUNTPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- VILIS LISMENTSCorporal · November 22, 1965
- HARRY STEWART THOMPSONStaff Sergeant · December 5, 1965
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.