The Wall › Panel 36E › California › William A Thornton JR
WILLIAM A THORNTON JR
First Lieutenant · U.S. Marine Corps
January 29, 1933 – February 1, 1968
Service recordWilliam A Thornton JR, of Lawndale, California, served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 1, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 35. His name is inscribed on Panel 36E, Line 46 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 36E · Line 46
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- First Lieutenant (1STLT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Administrative Officer (0130)
- Born
- January 29, 1933
- Home of record
- Lawndale, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 1, 1968
- Age
- 35
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Explosive Device
Context · from the records
What was happening
96 names on the Wall carry the date February 1, 1968; 31 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle 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.
Also on Panel 36E, Line 46
- REX ALLAN BOWYERSpecialist Four · February 1, 1968
- ELYVIN LAVERNE BROWNPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- JOHN THOMAS BROWNPrivate First Class · February 1, 1968
- GEORGE ALLEN CAMPBELLSpecialist Four · February 1, 1968
From Lawndale
- JIMMY DEVER BACCUSPrivate First Class · July 28, 1966
- RICKFORD RAY SCHMIDTPrivate First Class · January 9, 1967
- JERRY DOYLE ATKINSONCorporal · March 30, 1968
- BOBBY JOE GRAVELSpecialist Four · April 6, 1968
- BRUCE STUART LINDSAYLance Corporal · May 4, 1968
- DARRELL LEROY ENGLEPrivate First Class · December 23, 1968
- BYRON LEE NOTT JRSecond Lieutenant · December 31, 1968
- DALE GEORGE HELGESONSergeant · March 1, 1969
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.