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 Thomas Dudley Chenault.

The Wall › Panel 3W › Texas › Thomas Dudley Chenault

THOMAS DUDLEY CHENAULT

Captain · U.S. Army

May 16, 1946 – April 24, 1971

Service record

Thomas Dudley Chenault, of Gonzales, Texas, served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He died on April 24, 1971, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 3W, Line 7 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 3W · Line 7

Position of Panel 3W 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
Captain (CPT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Armored Reconnaissance Unit Commander (1204)
Unit (as recorded)
101 AIRBORNE DIV
Born
May 16, 1946
Home of record
Gonzales, Texas (Gonzales County)

Casualty

Date of death
April 24, 1971
Age
24
Province
Thua Thien
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

26 names on the Wall carry the date April 24, 1971; eight of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In April 1971, 292 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 57 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 3W, Line 7

Same unit, same day

From Gonzales

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.