The Wall › Panel 31W › Illinois › Thomas Howard McGrath
THOMAS HOWARD MCGRATH
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
May 22, 1950 – February 25, 1969
Service recordThomas Howard McGrath, of Homewood, Illinois, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 25, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 31W, Line 54 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 31W · Line 54
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
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Artillery Scout Observer (0846)
- Born
- May 22, 1950
- Home of record
- Homewood, Illinois (Cook County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 25, 1969
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Burns/Smoke Inhalation
Context · from the records
What was happening
106 names on the Wall carry the date February 25, 1969; 60 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive 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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 31W, Line 54
- ROBERT ALAN MCCARTHYPrivate First Class · February 25, 1969
- WILLIAM DAVID MORGANCorporal · February 25, 1969
- JOSEPH B OLIPHANT JRPrivate First Class · February 25, 1969
- FRED LAYTON RICARD JRPrivate First Class · February 25, 1969
From Homewood
- MALLEN PHILIP OTTO ZUM JRFirst Lieutenant · June 19, 1967
- WILLIAM EARL COFRANSergeant · March 18, 1968
- WILLIAM JOSEPH OSKILANECLance Corporal · September 16, 1968
- JAMES HOWARD WARDSpecialist Five · February 1, 1969
- PARK GEORGE BUNKERCaptain · December 30, 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.