The Wall › Panel 38E › Georgia › Thomas Gale Gaines
THOMAS GALE GAINES
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
December 25, 1948 – February 11, 1968
Service recordThomas Gale Gaines, of Ludowici, Georgia, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 11, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 76 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 76
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- December 25, 1948
- Home of record
- Ludowici, Georgia (Long County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 11, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
44 names on the Wall carry the date February 11, 1968; four of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
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 76
- ADALBERTO CACERESSpecialist Four · February 11, 1968
- DONALD REGINALD COLSONSergeant · February 11, 1968
- JAMES PEYTON CROOKPrivate First Class · February 11, 1968
- MONZIE DURREL EDMONDSPrivate First Class · February 11, 1968
From Ludowici
- JIMMIE TAVY SMILEYSergeant · March 18, 1966
- MILLARD LEON TREADWELL JRMajor · June 3, 1967
- WILLIAM EDWARD SAPPSpecialist Four · June 7, 1968
- THOMAS CLINTON SMITH JRCorporal · April 8, 1970
- JOHN DARVIN BELLStaff Sergeant · June 17, 1970
- HARRY LAWRENCE MCLAMBMajor · June 18, 1970
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.