The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967.
A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division secures a landing zone, October 1967. Photo: SP5 Robert C. Lafoon, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Thomas Lee Mericantante.

The Wall › Panel 48W › California › Thomas Lee Mericantante

THOMAS LEE MERICANTANTE

Private First Class · U.S. Army

September 17, 1949 – August 16, 1968

Service record

Thomas Lee Mericantante, of Solana Beach, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on August 16, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 48W, Line 28 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 48W · Line 28

Position of Panel 48W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Private First Class (PFC)
Service
Regular
Occupation
General Construction Equipment Operator (62J)
Unit (as recorded)
630 ENG CO 39 ENG BN USARV
Born
September 17, 1949
Home of record
Solana Beach, California (San Diego County)

Casualty

Date of death
August 16, 1968
Age
18
Province
Quang Tri
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Grenade

Context · from the records

What was happening

55 names on the Wall carry the date August 16, 1968; 31 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In August 1968, 1,313 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “630 ENG CO 39 ENG BN USARV”, his unit in the record, lost 7 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 48W, Line 28

Same unit, same day

From Solana Beach

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.