The Wall › Panel 16E › Georgia › Dean Smith JR
DEAN SMITH JR
Lieutenant (junior grade) · U.S. Navy
June 14, 1941 – March 15, 1967
Service recordDean Smith JR, of Savannah, Georgia, served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Navy. He died on March 15, 1967, in North Vietnam, at age 25. His name is inscribed on Panel 16E, Line 87 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16E · Line 87
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. Navy
- Rank
- Lieutenant (junior grade) (LTJG)
- Service
- Reserve / National Guard
- Occupation
- Url Pilot (1315)
- Unit (as recorded)
- VF 124 USS BON HOMME RICHARD CVA 31
- Born
- June 14, 1941
- Home of record
- Savannah, Georgia (Chatham County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 15, 1967
- Age
- 25
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
25 names on the Wall carry the date March 15, 1967. In March 1967, 1,091 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 16E, Line 87
- CLINTON ARNOLD SMITHSergeant · March 15, 1967
- JOHN HERBERT SNITCHLance Corporal · March 15, 1967
- VICTOR HUGO THOMPSON IIIFirst Lieutenant · March 15, 1967
- VINCENT MILO TOMALKAStaff Sergeant · March 15, 1967
From Savannah
- WILLIAM FREW TRAIN IIIFirst Lieutenant · June 16, 1962
- HENRY STERLING MCWHORTERLieutenant · August 29, 1965
- JERRY JIVENSStaff Sergeant · November 15, 1965
- JAMES MAYNARD SPENCESpecialist Four · February 27, 1966
- BARNETTE GARTRELL JENKINSPrivate First Class · March 2, 1966
- HARLOW GARY CLARK JRLieutenant Colonel · March 7, 1966
- JOHN EDWARD CAIL JRSpecialist Four · May 9, 1966
- WILLMATT BROWNPrivate First Class · May 17, 1966
- WILLIAM JONES JRSergeant · June 18, 1966
- ERNEST MAXWELL SHUMAN JRSpecialist Five · August 1, 1966
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.