Specialist 4 Thomas Elsworth Layne, Jr. was born on May 26, 1944, and was originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He served his country in the Vietnam War in the United States Army in A Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. His tour in Vietnam began on September 5, 1967. On December 23, 1967, SP4 Layne was tragically killed from friendly fire under hostile conditions in Binh Duong province, South Vietnam. He was 23 at the time of his death. SP4 Layne is buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 32E, Line 52. The following are tributes to SP4 Layne:
Charlie Smith
Friend
Friendship is hard to come by and yours has remained with me for many years. The world lost a good man when you were taken.
Mar 9, 2010
Teri Layne
daughter
My Hero
I miss my dad every single day and wonder how my life would have been with him here with me. This war isn’t just about the ones who lost their lives but also for the ones whose lives are lost. My life has never been right and never will be because he never came home. I am so very proud but then again so very sad. I love you dad…and I will NEVER forget.
your daughter and biggest fan,
Teri
Apr 10, 2008
Remember! you always thought you were going to get sick or die, and we kidded you about that. Even when we ate lunch the day before you shipped out you said you wouldn’t be comming back. I think about that often. You are missed
Posted by: Rusty Aytes
Relationship: We were close friends
Monday, June 12, 2006
Thomas Layne was my father and I miss him everyday of my life. I wish I would have known you and I wish that you would have come home, but you lost your life making this world safer for me and millions of others, and for that I am the proudest of daughters. I love you and I can’t wait to see you again one day and be with you like we should have been all these years. I will always be your “little girl” and I will always love you.
Posted by: Teri
Relationship: He is my father
Monday, February 13, 2006
I wish we would have had a chance to meet you my cousin tommy and I will always remember what you did for our country and will never hold that against you..but you will be forever in my heart and I can still visit you at the national cemetery in chattanooga, tn..you will be remembered always…
Posted by: Paul Stanfield Jr.
Relationship: cousin
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Tommy,
We still are inseparable. Best friends, shared secrets, played our hearts out in football at East Ridge high. Always joking, always laughing. My tears still flow like a river for you.I will carry our memories to the grave. It still seems surreal that you are actually gone after 36 years. Hopefully again some day beyond the wall.
Posted by: Ralph L. Braly
Relationship: We were close friends
Friday, March 18, 2005
Thomas,
Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. You were a good soldier and a good man. I was proud to have you in my platoon. Jerry Patano, Lloyd Harrison and I talk about you every time we get together. I can still hear Jerry and Lloyd yelling “Hold on Thomas”…my tears cannot wash away your memory. I’ll see you at “The Wall” my friend, my brother!
Posted by: Lt. John W. Erby
Relationship: I was his Platoon Leader
Thursday, September 9, 2004
Tommy:
I think of you often and the great times we had walking the halls of East Ridge High. You were a great friend and will always be remembered.
Jimmy
Posted by: Jim Renner
Relationship: friend
Thursday, June 3, 1999
The Bristol Herald Courier, December 27, 1967
Spec. 4 Thomas E. Layne, Jr., 23, a standout athlete at East Ridge High School before his graduation in 1962, was killed in action in Vietnam Dec. 23, his parents have been notified. Ayne, son of Thomas M. Layne Sr., a retired Hamilton County detective, and Dorothy Layne of Suburban East Ridge, had been in Vietnam since Sept. 1
Photo from the East Ridge High School 1961
- Rank: Specialist 4th Class
- Date of birth: 26 May 1944
- Date of death: 23 December 1967
- County: Hamilton
- Hometown: Chattanooga
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 25th Infantry Division
- Conflict: Vietnam
- Burial/Memorial Location: Chattanooga National Cemetery, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXIII, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Thomas E. Layne Jr.
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