The Wall › Panel 10E › Illinois › Thomas Holt Pilkington
THOMAS HOLT PILKINGTON
Lieutenant Commander · U.S. Navy
September 8, 1941 – September 19, 1966
Service recordThomas Holt Pilkington, of Morton Grove, Illinois, served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He was lost on September 19, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 10E, Line 121 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 10E · Line 121
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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1325)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VF 154
- Born
- September 8, 1941
- Home of record
- Morton Grove, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 19, 1966
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
36 names on the Wall carry the date September 19, 1966. In September 1966, 533 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “VF 154”, his unit in the record, lost 2 of its members that month.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 10E, Line 121
- RONALD LEE ENGLANDLance Corporal · September 19, 1966
- JOSEPH DENNIS MCNULTYPrivate First Class · September 19, 1966
- DON BROWN PARSONS JRLieutenant Commander · September 19, 1966
- RICHARD WILLIAM PERRYSergeant · September 19, 1966
Same unit, same day
- DON BROWN PARSONS JRLieutenant Commander · Panel 10E, Line 121
From Morton Grove
- JAMES ROBERT NOVOTNYSpecialist Four · March 20, 1967
- WILLIAM DAVID NODDINPrivate First Class · April 25, 1968
- NORMAN ANTHONY MILLERMaster Sergeant · December 1, 1968
- FRANK DANIEL WALTHERSCorporal · August 1, 1969
- THOMAS CARL WIDERQUISTFirst Lieutenant · May 3, 1972
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.