The Wall › Panel 38E › Iowa › Harold Lee Smith
HAROLD LEE SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
January 5, 1946 – February 9, 1968
Service recordHarold Lee Smith, of Des Moines, Iowa, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 9, 1968, in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 38E, Line 60 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 38E · Line 60
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- AMERICAL DIV
- Born
- January 5, 1946
- Home of record
- Des Moines, Iowa (Polk County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 9, 1968
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Quang Ngai
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Died of Wounds
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
107 names on the Wall carry the date February 9, 1968; he was the only one lost in Quảng Ngãi Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 23 of its members that month.
He died in Quảng Ngãi Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 38E, Line 60
- JOSEPH WILFRED ROUNSEVILLEFirst Sergeant · February 9, 1968
- GARY EUGENE SALISBURYSpecialist Four · February 9, 1968
- ROBERT LEON SHARPLESSPrivate First Class · February 9, 1968
- DARRELL WAYNE SIBERTPrivate First Class · February 9, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES ROBERT MARTINSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 55
- MICHAEL PUMILLOSpecialist Four · Panel 38E, Line 59
From Des Moines
- CONNIE LEROY CHANDLERSergeant · November 20, 1965
- HARRY RICHARD CRUMLEYCaptain · January 25, 1966
- WALTER BOYCE JOHNSONPrivate First Class · January 25, 1966
- MARSHALL MYRON HOLT JRCaptain · March 2, 1966
- STEPHEN PAUL ALSTEDPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- DENNIS ARNOLD MAYCaptain · April 29, 1966
- WILLIAM FREDRICK FREESTONEGunnery Sergeant · July 5, 1966
- JERRY LEE LEONARDISergeant First Class · July 10, 1966
- TERRY PATRICK SLOANPetty Officer First Class · November 9, 1966
- LOREN STEVEN REEVESSpecialist Four · November 11, 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.