The Wall › Panel 39E › Alabama › Wilton Herman Thomas
WILTON HERMAN THOMAS
Lance Corporal · U.S. Marine Corps
June 2, 1949 – February 17, 1968
Service recordWilton Herman Thomas, of Birmingham, Alabama, served as a Lance Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 17, 1968, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 77 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 77
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
- Lance Corporal (LCPL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Machinegunner (0331)
- Born
- June 2, 1949
- Home of record
- Birmingham, Alabama (Jefferson County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 17, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date February 17, 1968; 11 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while the siege of Khe Sanh was under way. From 21 January 1968, North Vietnamese divisions besieged the Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and its hill outposts near the Laotian border for 77 days, while U.S. aircraft dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs around it. Operation Pegasus reached the base on 8 April. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 39E, Line 77
- SAMUEL JOHN SANTANGELOPrivate First Class · February 17, 1968
- ANDRES SORCHINIPrivate First Class · February 17, 1968
- KENNETH EARL STETSONLance Corporal · February 17, 1968
- JAMES CHARLES WONNEnsign · February 17, 1968
From Birmingham
- SHERMAN ELLIOT WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · July 9, 1965
- CARL WILLIAM MANNPrivate First Class · September 21, 1965
- ROBERT WARREN ALLENPrivate First Class · October 3, 1965
- GENE WILLIAM WILLIAMSSpecialist Five · October 12, 1965
- JAMES J HOWARDSpecialist Five · November 1, 1965
- CLEO LOCKETTCorporal · November 8, 1965
- HAROLD JAMES BATTLEPrivate First Class · November 12, 1965
- HAROLD EUGENE WATKINSLance Corporal · November 12, 1965
- CHARLES WILLIAM STOREYStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- RICHARD EARL HARPERSpecialist Four · January 12, 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.