The Wall › Panel 18W › Alabama › David Willard Smith
DAVID WILLARD SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
May 14, 1949 – September 21, 1969
Service recordDavid Willard Smith, of Opelika, Alabama, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on September 21, 1969, in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 18W, Line 123 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18W · Line 123
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Heavy Anti-Armor Weapons Infantryman (11H)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- May 14, 1949
- Home of record
- Opelika, Alabama (Lee County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 21, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Tay Ninh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date September 21, 1969; four of them were lost in Tây Ninh Province. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 71 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 18W, Line 123
- THOMAS LLOYD LARSONCorporal · September 21, 1969
- LEONEL MENDONCA SILVEIRALance Corporal · September 21, 1969
- LARRY RICKFORD SKINNERCorporal · September 21, 1969
- HENRY MATT STEWART JRSergeant · September 21, 1969
Same unit, same day
- MERLE WILLIAM HABENPrivate First Class · Panel 18W, Line 120
- GREGG WILLIAM HEIDRICHPrivate First Class · Panel 18W, Line 121
From Opelika
- CHARLES EARNEST HOODPrivate · October 25, 1967
- BROADUS DALE HILYERPrivate First Class · February 24, 1968
- ERNEST AUSTIN BAKER JRCorporal · May 21, 1968
- JOSEPH HAYDEN KENNEYSecond Lieutenant · June 24, 1969
- DONNIE STEPHEN BARTLETTPrivate First Class · March 11, 1970
- HOWARD LANIER WILLIAMSONSpecialist Four · June 3, 1970
- MILTON CHARLES HUNTERSpecialist Four · October 31, 1972
- CHARLES M EARNESTCommander · November 28, 1972
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.