The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division leap from a UH-1D during an air assault.
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division leap from a UH-1D during an air assault. Photo: SP4 Johnnie Jackson, U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of William David Thorpe.

The Wall › Panel 7W › Iowa › William David Thorpe

WILLIAM DAVID THORPE

Specialist Four · U.S. Army

February 10, 1951 – August 26, 1970

Service record

William David Thorpe, of Jesup, Iowa, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on August 26, 1970, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 7W, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 7W · Line 14

Position of Panel 7W 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
Specialist Four (SP4)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Field Artillery Basic (13A)
Unit (as recorded)
196 LIGHT INF BDE
Born
February 10, 1951
Home of record
Jesup, Iowa (Buchanan County)

Casualty

Date of death
August 26, 1970
Age
19
Province
Quang Tin
Country
South Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Unknown

Context · from the records

What was happening

41 names on the Wall carry the date August 26, 1970; 31 of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In August 1970, 452 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 33 of its members that month.

Also on Panel 7W, Line 14

Same unit, same day

From Jesup

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.