The Wall › Panel 41E › Indiana › Thomas Thawson Wright
THOMAS THAWSON WRIGHT
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
October 2, 1934 – February 27, 1968
Service recordThomas Thawson Wright, of Gary, Indiana, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on February 27, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 41E, Line 57 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 41E · Line 57
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. Air Force
- Rank
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Weapon Systems Officer (1555D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 14 TRS
- Born
- October 2, 1934
- Home of record
- Gary, Indiana (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- February 27, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Aircraft
- RF-4C
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
56 names on the Wall carry the date February 27, 1968. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “14 TRS”, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
Also on Panel 41E, Line 57
- RICHARD DENNIS WELCHPrivate First Class · February 27, 1968
- CHARLES EDWARD WILLIAMSSergeant · February 27, 1968
- THOMAS CLAY WRIGHTSpecialist Five · February 27, 1968
- JAMES DOMINIO YOUNGHAMCorporal · February 27, 1968
Same unit, same day
- GILBERT SWAIN PALMER JRColonel · Panel 41E, Line 53
From Gary
- JOHN ROBERT ACKERMANPrivate First Class · November 16, 1965
- TOM WILLIE BROWNSergeant · December 4, 1965
- JACK ELSWORTH LOCKEPrivate First Class · January 27, 1966
- ROBERT LOPEZPrivate First Class · March 1, 1966
- JAMES LEE EMMARTPrivate First Class · June 20, 1966
- RICHARD WAYNE MCGEECorporal · July 1, 1966
- VICTOR MORALESPrivate First Class · August 1, 1966
- JOHN PETER SKORO JRFirst Lieutenant · September 13, 1966
- JOHN GREEN DICKERSON IIIPrivate · October 5, 1966
- ANDREW JAMES ROBERTSONPrivate First Class · November 2, 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.