The Wall › Panel 38E › Wisconsin › Thomas John Blaha
THOMAS JOHN BLAHA
Private · U.S. Marine Corps
January 18, 1949 – February 8, 1968
Service recordThomas John Blaha, of Madison, Wisconsin, served as a Private in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 8, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 21
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
- Private (PVT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- January 18, 1949
- Home of record
- Madison, Wisconsin (Dane County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 8, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
114 names on the Wall carry the date February 8, 1968; five 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 21
- AMOS HAYES BOUTWELLPrivate First Class · February 8, 1968
- DONALD ROBERT BOWMANPrivate First Class · February 8, 1968
- JOSEPH B BOWMANSecond Lieutenant · February 8, 1968
- THOMAS HAROLD C BRIGGSCorporal · February 8, 1968
From Madison
- ROSCOE AMMERMANStaff Sergeant · October 3, 1965
- JEAN PIERRE DOWLINGLance Corporal · January 29, 1966
- MICHAEL JOSEPH BANOVEZ JRCorporal · July 18, 1966
- WILLY VASCILLE QUASTStaff Sergeant · January 7, 1967
- THOMAS ERWIN MATUSHPrivate First Class · January 12, 1967
- CHARLES JOHN THOMAMajor · January 12, 1967
- LEONARD DEAN THOMPSONSpecialist Four · April 25, 1967
- GORDON WAYNE STOFLETLance Corporal · June 29, 1967
- VERNON GENE STICHSpecialist Four · August 7, 1967
- MARK WILLARD NEUMANNSpecialist Four · August 25, 1967
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.