The Wall › Panel 5W › Alabama › Donald Wayne Smith
DONALD WAYNE SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 17, 1949 – January 14, 1971
Service recordDonald Wayne Smith, of Brewton, Alabama, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on January 14, 1971, in Pleiku Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 44 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5W · Line 44
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Power Generation Equipment Repairer (52D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
- Born
- August 17, 1949
- Home of record
- Brewton, Alabama (Escambia County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 14, 1971
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Pleiku
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Other Accident
Context · from the records
What was happening
Four names on the Wall carry the date January 14, 1971; he was the only one lost in Pleiku Province that day. In January 1971, 259 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 32 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 5W, Line 44
- RUDOLPH CALVIN THOMASStaff Sergeant · January 14, 1971
- EDGAR LEO WEST JRPrivate First Class · January 14, 1971
- BILLY RAY ANDERSONStaff Sergeant · January 15, 1971
- DAVID LEROY BUTLERSpecialist Four · January 15, 1971
From Brewton
- OBIE CLYDE SIMMONSPrivate First Class · May 20, 1966
- DALTON BUSTER LOWERYLance Corporal · December 20, 1966
- JAMES FLOYD MADDENCorporal · April 9, 1967
- JOSEPH EARL HAMMACSpecialist Four · June 16, 1967
- JOHN WESLEY WINTERCorporal · February 1, 1968
- JIMMY RAY THOMASPrivate First Class · May 31, 1968
- DAVID MARSHALL HAVEARDLance Corporal · July 7, 1970
- WILLIAM RICHARD ELLISStaff Sergeant · November 14, 1970
- J C SUMMERLINSpecialist Four · May 21, 1971
- CHARLES DONNETTE GIPSONStaff Sergeant · May 26, 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.