The Wall › Panel 41E › Illinois › Thomas Joseph Cooney
THOMAS JOSEPH COONEY
Second Lieutenant · U.S. Army
May 10, 1944 – February 25, 1968
Service recordThomas Joseph Cooney, of Decatur, Illinois, served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 25, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 20 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 20
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
- Second Lieutenant (2LT)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Infantry Unit Commander (1542)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 199 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- May 10, 1944
- Home of record
- Decatur, Illinois (Macon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 25, 1968
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 25, 1968; 12 of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 199th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 42 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh 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 41E, Line 20
- GERALD TYLER DOUGLASS JRSpecialist Four · February 25, 1968
- RICHARD J FAULKNERSpecialist Four · February 25, 1968
- CHARLES GREGORY GELLERLance Corporal · February 25, 1968
- WILLIAM ARTHUR GIBSONPrivate First Class · February 25, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD J FAULKNERSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 20
- NATHAN LYEN ROBINSONSergeant · Panel 41E, Line 31
- JAMES VINCENT THORNTONSpecialist Four · Panel 41E, Line 31
- BARRY MILTON WOPINSKIPrivate First Class · Panel 41E, Line 34
From Decatur
- ROGER HUGH MULLINSLieutenant Commander · February 17, 1960
- HERBERT J DEXTERMajor · September 18, 1965
- JAMES DARRELL WHITE JRPrivate First Class · January 29, 1966
- WILLIAM PATRICK FORANLance Corporal · March 1, 1966
- RONALD THOMAS SHELTONCaptain · April 10, 1966
- BRYAN B STOCKWELLPrivate First Class · September 20, 1966
- JOHN RUSSELL SMITHLance Corporal · October 5, 1966
- CARL GENE SMITHSpecialist Four · February 13, 1967
- STEPHEN RAY BANGERTLance Corporal · March 2, 1967
- JAMES THOMAS BRADSHAWPrivate First Class · March 18, 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.