Robert James Thomas

Vietnam War
Unit340th Bomber Squadron
RankCaptain U.S. Air Force
Entered Service FromAnaconda Montana
Date of DeathDecember 18 1972
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
A
Notes
Captain Thomas was a member of the 340th Bomber Squadron at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam. On December 18, 1972, he was the co-pilot of a Boeing Stratofortress Bomber (B-52G) on a bombing raid on the Yen Vien rail yards near Hanoi, North Vietnam. As the bomber crossed the release point, it was hit by a surface to air missile, crashed and exploded. His remains were recovered on August 27, 1978 and identified on September 11, 1978. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.