The Wall › Panel 42W › Iowa › Charles Richard Smidstra
CHARLES RICHARD SMIDSTRA
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 26, 1947 – October 2, 1968
Service recordCharles Richard Smidstra, of Rock Rapids, Iowa, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 2, 1968, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 42W, Line 64 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42W · Line 64
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. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- November 26, 1947
- Home of record
- Rock Rapids, Iowa (Lyon County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 2, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date October 2, 1968; six of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In October 1968, 821 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 8 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 42W, Line 64
- JOHN MARTIN QUIGLEYStaff Sergeant · September 24, 1968
- LARRY MICHAEL SABOSpecialist Four · October 2, 1968
- JOHN C SHERIN IIIWarrant Officer 1 · October 2, 1968
- FRANK JOHN SMITHPrivate First Class · October 2, 1968
- ALLAN RAY WALSHSpecialist Four · October 2, 1968
From Rock Rapids
- VERNON LEE HAYNESCaptain · May 16, 1965
- HAROLD PETER BERGSergeant · March 17, 1969
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.