The Wall › Panel 17E › Georgia › Thomas Patterson
THOMAS PATTERSON
Sergeant · U.S. Army
July 5, 1946 – April 7, 1967
Service recordThomas Patterson, of Savannah, Georgia, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on April 7, 1967, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 17E, Line 119 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17E · Line 119
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. Army
- Rank
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- July 5, 1946
- Home of record
- Savannah, Georgia (Chatham County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 7, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
26 names on the Wall carry the date April 7, 1967; eight of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In April 1967, 887 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 25 of its members that month.
He died in Tây Ninh Province while Operation Junction City was under way. Operation Junction City (22 February–14 May 1967), in War Zone C along the Cambodian border, was the largest U.S. operation of the war to that time and included the only major American combat parachute assault 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 17E, Line 119
- BERNARD MONROE THOMASSpecialist Four · April 7, 1967
- PATRICK JOHN TRODDENPrivate First Class · April 7, 1967
- TERRY LYNN ANTONPrivate First Class · April 8, 1967
- IRVIN SYLVESTER BANKSCorporal · April 8, 1967
Same unit, same day
- HENRY HWEY GAMBLECorporal · Panel 17E, Line 114
- ROSS ALLEN GASTONPrivate First Class · Panel 17E, Line 116
- JERRY ROBERT MILLERCorporal · Panel 17E, Line 117
From Savannah
- WILLIAM FREW TRAIN IIIFirst Lieutenant · June 16, 1962
- HENRY STERLING MCWHORTERLieutenant · August 29, 1965
- JERRY JIVENSStaff Sergeant · November 15, 1965
- JAMES MAYNARD SPENCESpecialist Four · February 27, 1966
- BARNETTE GARTRELL JENKINSPrivate First Class · March 2, 1966
- HARLOW GARY CLARK JRLieutenant Colonel · March 7, 1966
- JOHN EDWARD CAIL JRSpecialist Four · May 9, 1966
- WILLMATT BROWNPrivate First Class · May 17, 1966
- WILLIAM JONES JRSergeant · June 18, 1966
- ERNEST MAXWELL SHUMAN JRSpecialist Five · August 1, 1966
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.