I believe Armand had to quit school to help support his widowed mother. He was an extremely nice guy -- another of the quiet and shy ones. After he quit, he used to stop by my house and wait in his car until I got home from whichever sport practice was in season. I would visit with him until dinner-time, answering all his incessant questions about what was happening at school. He was totally sincere and interested in all the people who had been his classmates. I heard that Armand was KIA in Vietnam. Dick Speer
I didn't know Armand other than he was a fellow classmate. What I remember of him is from the obituary column of the Denver Post on Wednesday, June 14, 1967. It struck me that he was probably the first of our class to die in Vietnam. He was killed May 29, 1967, in combat near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. He was a marine. He had attended Metropolitan State College and the Denver Center of the University of Colorado. Prior to entering the Marines he had worked as a brakeman on the Union Pacific Railroad. He left behind his mother and two sisters. I wish I could have said more for him. Certainly as an only son and brother he has been sadly missed. MK Battaia Pierce
Armand could play the piano by ear and I don't think he knew where middle C was, but if he heard something on the radio, it wasn't long before he was playing it on the piano. Armand sent me a post card while I was stationed with the Navy in the Far East in 1965 which I still have. He wrote, "Chuck, I hear it's getting pretty hot over there, I'm thinking about joining the Marines." It was sent from Wyoming where he was working for the Union Pacific. He went to boot camp in San Diego, got his knee torn up and got a medical discharge. He worked out for a year, got his knee totally rehabilitated, rejoined and was killed by small arms fire not too long after he got there.
Armand was a friend of mine and I miss him. Chuck Wright
Chuck.....this is not even correct. Armand tried to join the MARINES and was turned down because of a defective knee. He paid for an operation on his own, re-habed and then was accepted by the Marines. He never ever received a medical discharge, only a purple heart and I'm not sure but I think he also received a bronze star for valor. His mother, Katherine, received these in a posthumous ceremony at Fairmont cemetery. Michael Perschbacher
After further research....I found out that Armand also received the Navy cross. Mike
I was working at the Safeway store back in the 60's and Armand would come in often to visit with me. One day he came in when he was on leave and he said I'm leaving for Vietnam in a week and I have something to give you. It was a P38 which is the military version of a can opener. I still have it to this day. It was a small gift but I appreciated it very much. Not long after that a lady that shopped in the store was friends with the Thouvenells walked up to me crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said Armand had been shot by a sniper and was killed. I still to this day get that small can opener out and look at it and remember that Armand sacrificed his life for our freedom. God bless him!
Larry Kelso
I was not a classmate, but I am so happy to see this website and the information about Armand. He was my grandfather's half-brother, making him technically my great uncle, though he was only 7 years older than me (Armand's Dad was quite old when he was born--73, I believe). I live in the Washington, DC metro area and had known from my mother that one of Great Grandfather Thouvenell's children had died in the war and my Mom and I had visited the Vietnam memorial and found his name. I learned later about his amazing sacrifice for his fellow Marines. Anyway, the reminiscences give his memory a new vibrancy--we know who we're visiting now. One particularly touching thing was his musical ability. We've long talked in our family about a "Thouvenell gift"--that ability to play piano by ear. My grandfather Thouvenell had it (he died in 1949), one of my aunts has it, and so did I. I wondered whether it was from the Thouvenell side or from my great grandmother (J.N. Thouvenell's first wife, who died in 1896). Now I know.
I sort of apologize for intruding on your website with genealogy, and not a classmate connection, but I just sort of wanted to thank those of you who wrote in for an unintended benefit from your staying in touch with each other.
I wish that I could have known him...his father was my Grandfather, JN. The comments about Armand are so dear and touching..May he rest in peace. Jacqueline Thouvenell Dougherty
Hello, my sons and I learned about Armand from the searches from all of the available resources of the Thouvenell family namesakes and from the Vietnam Wall where he is the only Thouvenell mentioned. We have searched all genealogy records for more of our Thouvenell family and we are glad to see that he has the qualities of what we beleive to be what our namesake stands for. Please respond to this so that we can all meet and salute men like Armand was. Scott Thouvenell.
