The Wall › Panel 44E › Wisconsin › David William Kmetz
DAVID WILLIAM KMETZ
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 5, 1946 – March 11, 1968
Service recordDavid William Kmetz, of Washburn, Wisconsin, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 11, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 44E, Line 18 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 44E · Line 18
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
- Heavy Vehicle Driver (64B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- November 5, 1946
- Home of record
- Washburn, Wisconsin (Bayfield County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 11, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
54 names on the Wall carry the date March 11, 1968; he was the only one lost in Quảng Ngãi Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 36 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 44E, Line 18
- HERBERT ARTHUR KIRKStaff Sergeant · March 11, 1968
- ELDON JOHN KIRKPATRICK JRPrivate First Class · March 11, 1968
- ELMER DALE LAUCKChief Warrant Officer 2 · March 11, 1968
- DANIEL LLOYD MEYSEMBOURGPrivate First Class · March 11, 1968
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.