The Wall › Panel 45E › New Jersey › Thomas John Ptak
THOMAS JOHN PTAK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
February 1, 1948 – March 22, 1968
Service recordThomas John Ptak, of Highlands, New Jersey, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 22, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 59
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. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Indirect Fire Infantryman (11C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- February 1, 1948
- Home of record
- Highlands, New Jersey (Monmouth County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 22, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 22, 1968; 16 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 45E, Line 59
- CARL LYONSPrivate · March 22, 1968
- LINWOOD DWIGHT MARTINSergeant First Class · March 22, 1968
- THEODORE VALENTI MCINNISCorporal · March 22, 1968
- THOMAS J MURRAYSpecialist Four · March 22, 1968
Same unit, same day
- WALTER HAROLD ANSLOWSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 53
- GARY LANE BARNUMPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 53
- JAMES EVART BLAAUWSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 54
- FRED C H FRAPPIEA JRPrivate First Class · Panel 45E, Line 55
- BILL WAYNE GRANTSpecialist Five · Panel 45E, Line 56
- DONALD EDWARD GREENSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 56
- FREDERICK Y HOLJESSecond Lieutenant · Panel 45E, Line 57
- BENJAMIN ALLEN JONESSpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 57
- MANFRED WALTER KRAUSESpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 57
- THEODORE VALENTI MCINNISCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 59
- CHARLES RICHARD PYLESpecialist Four · Panel 45E, Line 60
- THOMAS JOHN STURGALSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 60
- C W RICHARD WILLIAMSSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 61
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.