The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966.
F-105D Thunderchiefs refuel from a KC-135 on the way to North Vietnam, about 1966. Photo: U.S. Air Force, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Herbert Eugene Smith.

The Wall › Panel 9E › Florida › Herbert Eugene Smith

HERBERT EUGENE SMITH

Chief Master Sergeant · U.S. Air Force

March 1, 1936 – July 1, 1966

Service record

Herbert Eugene Smith, of Apalachicola, Florida, served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on July 1, 1966, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 9E, Line 89 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 9E · Line 89

Position of Panel 9E on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Chief Master Sergeant (CMSGT)
Service
Regular
Occupation
Aircraft Maintenance Superintendent (43191)
Born
March 1, 1936
Home of record
Apalachicola, Florida (Franklin County)

Casualty

Date of loss
July 1, 1966
Country
North Vietnam
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Declared Dead
Circumstance
Aircraft Crash — crew
First reported
Missing in action

Context · from the records

What was happening

15 names on the Wall carry the date July 1, 1966. In July 1966, 562 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

He died in North Vietnam while Operation Rolling Thunder was under way. Operation Rolling Thunder (March 1965–November 1968) was the sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam, flown by Air Force fighter-bombers from Thailand and Navy aircraft from carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against some of the densest air defenses in the world.

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 9E, Line 89

From Apalachicola

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.