The Wall › Panel 40E › New York › William Joseph Thornhill
WILLIAM JOSEPH THORNHILL
Sergeant · U.S. Army
November 10, 1943 – February 18, 1968
Service recordWilliam Joseph Thornhill, of New York, New York, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 18, 1968, in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 15 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 15
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)
- MACV ADVISORS
- Born
- November 10, 1943
- Home of record
- New York, New York (Kings County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 18, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Phuoc Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
85 names on the Wall carry the date February 18, 1968; seven of them were lost in Phuoc Long Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
MACV Advisers, his unit in the record, lost 33 of its members that month.
He died in Phuoc Long Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 40E, Line 15
- VINCENT MICHAEL SORANNOSergeant · February 18, 1968
- JOSEPH PARKHILL TURNBULLCorporal · February 18, 1968
- LUKAS JOHN VENTLINESpecialist Four · February 18, 1968
- RICHARD JAMES VONASEKPrivate First Class · February 18, 1968
Same unit, same day
- JOAQUIN CASTROSergeant First Class · Panel 40E, Line 2
- LAWRENCE JOHN FARELLIMajor · Panel 40E, Line 4
From New York
- WALTER R MCCARTHY JRCaptain · June 16, 1962
- JOHN HOWARD MCCLEANCaptain · August 16, 1963
- DONALD ALLAN MOLLICONEFirst Lieutenant · December 20, 1963
- VINCENT JOSEPH HICKMANCaptain · January 14, 1964
- MARTIN STOCKFEDERPrivate First Class · July 15, 1964
- ROBERT GEORGE ARMSTRONGFirst Lieutenant · October 24, 1964
- DOMINICK SANSONESergeant First Class · December 10, 1964
- DONALD GILBERT COOKColonel · December 31, 1964
- TERENCE MEREDITH MURPHYLieutenant (junior grade) · April 9, 1965
- ROBERT CARL WISTRANDColonel · May 9, 1965
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.