The Wall › Panel 30E › Pennsylvania › Thomas Olearnick
THOMAS OLEARNICK
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
December 5, 1946 – November 19, 1967
Service recordThomas Olearnick, of Mt Carmel, Pennsylvania, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on November 19, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 30E, Line 31 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30E · Line 31
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- December 5, 1946
- Home of record
- Mt Carmel, Pennsylvania (Northumberland County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 19, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
77 names on the Wall carry the date November 19, 1967; 42 of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 91 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. 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 30E, Line 31
- ANDREW JOHN OROSZSpecialist Four · November 19, 1967
- MARK CARSON PETERSENCorporal · November 19, 1967
- LESLEY WAYNE REEDStaff Sergeant · November 19, 1967
- WALTER RAY RIDDLEPrivate First Class · November 19, 1967
Same unit, same day
- TERRY RICHARD CLARKWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 30E, Line 23
- DAVID JOHN DECKERCaptain · Panel 30E, Line 24
- WILLIAM HOLT FOWLER IIISpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 25
- JEFFREY ALLEN HAWKSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 26
- CURTIS WOODROW HUTTOChief Warrant Officer 3 · Panel 30E, Line 27
- RONALD NELSON RODREICKSecond Lieutenant · Panel 30E, Line 32
From Mt Carmel
- NICHOLAS EDWARD BRUZNACKSpecialist Six · September 17, 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.