The Wall › Panel 50E › Illinois › Donald Eugene Smrtnik
DONALD EUGENE SMRTNIK
Sergeant · U.S. Army
August 14, 1945 – April 18, 1968
Service recordDonald Eugene Smrtnik, of Waukegan, Illinois, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on April 18, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 50E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 50E · Line 42
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- August 14, 1945
- Home of record
- Waukegan, Illinois (Lake County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 18, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
40 names on the Wall carry the date April 18, 1968; five of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In April 1968, 1,580 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 189 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 50E, Line 42
- GARY EDWARD RUSHASpecialist Four · April 18, 1968
- PAUL MATTHEW SPENCERLance Corporal · April 18, 1968
- JAN ALAN ULMERFirst Lieutenant · April 18, 1968
- ROBERT KITTRIDGE VARICKSpecialist Four · April 18, 1968
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT JAY HESSPrivate First Class · Panel 50E, Line 36
- UDO HANNIGANPrivate · Panel 50E, Line 39
- STERLING G W RIDDICKSpecialist Four · Panel 50E, Line 41
- REGINALD WILLIAMS JRPrivate First Class · Panel 50E, Line 43
From Waukegan
- WALTER WILLIAM BROWNSpecialist Five · November 5, 1965
- DAVID E BURKESPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- PATRICK JAMES HARRISPrivate First Class · February 18, 1966
- TERRY ALLEN PATTERSONPrivate First Class · March 2, 1967
- ROBERT ALLAN BRIEDSpecialist Four · March 21, 1967
- DANIEL MCCARTHY MANNLieutenant (junior grade) · April 7, 1967
- EDWARD STEVEN SACCOSpecialist Four · July 15, 1967
- PETER JOSEPH CANELAKESPrivate First Class · August 31, 1967
- ERHARDT WILLIAM MATHIESENSergeant · November 22, 1967
- RICHARD JOHN TURBITT JRSpecialist Four · April 20, 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.