The Wall › Panel 45E › Connecticut › Howard Bruce Smith
HOWARD BRUCE SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 3, 1949 – March 16, 1968
Service recordHoward Bruce Smith, of New Canaan, Connecticut, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 16, 1968, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 6
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- November 3, 1949
- Home of record
- New Canaan, Connecticut (Fairfield County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 16, 1968
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date March 16, 1968; four of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum 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.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 45E, Line 6
- DAVID LEROY SIMMONSSergeant · March 16, 1968
- KENNETH RAY WELLSPrivate First Class · March 16, 1968
- MICHEL T WHEELERCorporal · March 16, 1968
- BENJI YAMANESergeant · March 16, 1968
Same unit, same day
- CARL HANS BERNHARTCorporal · Panel 44E, Line 65
- MARK LANE DICKSONSpecialist Four · Panel 44E, Line 67
- DAVID ARTHUR JOHNSONSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 2
- HENRY L JOHNSONCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 2
- WELDON BERNARD MERRILLSergeant First Class · Panel 45E, Line 3
- MICHEL T WHEELERCorporal · Panel 45E, Line 6
- TERRY ZIMMERMANSergeant · Panel 45E, Line 7
From New Canaan
- FRED ANDREW LINDStaff Sergeant · July 10, 1966
- CHARLES DAVID AUSTINMajor · April 24, 1967
- DAVID MOY BURKE JRSpecialist Five · April 29, 1970
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.