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 Wayne Blakeslee.

The Wall › Panel 37W › Ohio › Thomas Wayne Blakeslee

THOMAS WAYNE BLAKESLEE

Sergeant · U.S. Army

September 6, 1947 – December 2, 1968

Service record

Thomas Wayne Blakeslee, of Medina, Ohio, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on December 2, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 37W, Line 21 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 37W · Line 21

Position of Panel 37W 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
Sergeant (SGT)
Service
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
5 INF DIV MECH
Born
September 6, 1947
Home of record
Medina, Ohio (Medina County)

Casualty

Date of death
December 2, 1968
Age
21
Province
Quang Tri
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

39 names on the Wall carry the date December 2, 1968; nine of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In December 1968, 855 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 15 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 37W, Line 21

Same unit, same day

From Medina

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.