The Wall › Panel 8E › California › Harding Eugene Smith SR
HARDING EUGENE SMITH SR
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
March 11, 1918 – June 3, 1966
Service recordHarding Eugene Smith SR, of Los Gatos, California, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on June 3, 1966, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 8E, Line 5 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8E · Line 5
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. Air Force
- Rank
- Colonel (COL)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Weapon Systems Officer (1555D)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 4 ACS
- Born
- March 11, 1918
- Home of record
- Los Gatos, California (Santa Clara County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- June 3, 1966
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
Context · from the records
What was happening
22 names on the Wall carry the date June 3, 1966. In June 1966, 595 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “4 ACS”, his unit in the record, lost 5 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
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.
Also on Panel 8E, Line 5
- STEPHEN H GAYMONPrivate First Class · June 3, 1966
- ERVIN WARRENChief Master Sergeant · June 3, 1966
- WILLIAM JEFFREY WILSONPrivate First Class · June 3, 1966
- EDGAR BROWER BURCHELL IIICorporal · June 4, 1966
Same unit, same day
- LUTHER LEE ROSEChief Master Sergeant · Panel 8E, Line 2
- THEODORE EUGENE KRYSZAKColonel · Panel 8E, Line 3
- HAROLD EUGENE MULLINSChief Master Sergeant · Panel 8E, Line 4
- ERVIN WARRENChief Master Sergeant · Panel 8E, Line 5
From Los Gatos
- RONALD GLEN SOULESergeant · April 13, 1966
- HARRY LEWIS MARIONSpecialist Four · January 14, 1967
- THOMAS LEE COTTRELLLance Corporal · January 22, 1968
- RONALD LEE ROGERSSpecialist Four · May 6, 1968
- FRANCIS PETER BRICMONT JRPrivate First Class · May 13, 1968
- RICHARD KENNETH TAYLORCorporal · June 1, 1968
- DENNIS DALE GREERSpecialist Four · March 26, 1969
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.