The Wall › Panel 8W › Texas › Donnie Paul Smith
DONNIE PAUL SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
August 22, 1949 – August 22, 1970
Service recordDonnie Paul Smith, of Gilmer, Texas, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on August 22, 1970, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 8W, Line 131 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8W · Line 131
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
- Watercraft Engineer (61C)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- August 22, 1949
- Home of record
- Gilmer, Texas (Upshur County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 22, 1970
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Drowning
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date August 22, 1970; two of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In August 1970, 452 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 6 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 8W, Line 131
- JEFFERY ALLEN MILLERLance Corporal · August 22, 1970
- ROBERT ONEAL NIMANPrivate First Class · August 22, 1970
- EDWARD JAMES NOVAKPrivate First Class · August 22, 1970
- THOMAS JOHN ROBERTSCorporal · August 22, 1970
From Gilmer
- FOY MANION MATHISCaptain · January 29, 1966
- JAMES LOUIS JOHNSONPrivate First Class · June 9, 1967
- CURTIS ORAN SMITH JRStaff Sergeant · September 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.