The Wall › Panel 36E › Michigan › Thomas Harold Staples
THOMAS HAROLD STAPLES
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
December 17, 1944 – January 31, 1968
Service recordThomas Harold Staples, of Petersburg, Michigan, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on January 31, 1968, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 38 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 38
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
- Second Lieutenant (2NDLT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Basic Infantry Officer (0301)
- Born
- December 17, 1944
- Home of record
- Petersburg, Michigan (Monroe County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 31, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
246 names on the Wall carry the date January 31, 1968; 28 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In January 1968, 1,546 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 36E, Line 38
- ROBERT BERYL STAFFORDSergeant · January 31, 1968
- JAMES STANCELL JRStaff Sergeant · January 31, 1968
- STEPHEN WILLIAM STARKPetty Officer Third Class · January 31, 1968
- JAMES LEWIS WAGESSergeant First Class · January 31, 1968
From Petersburg
- ROBERT CONROY PERRYPrivate First Class · August 29, 1968
- VINCENT MICHAEL LAROCCASpecialist Four · February 11, 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.