The Wall › Panel 42W › Oklahoma › Howard Horton Smith
HOWARD HORTON SMITH
Colonel · U.S. Air Force
June 25, 1930 – September 30, 1968
Service recordHoward Horton Smith, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He was lost on September 30, 1968, in North Vietnam, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 42W, Line 51 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42W · Line 51
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
- Navigator, Electronic Warfare Officer (1575)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 333 TFS
- Born
- June 25, 1930
- Home of record
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Multiple County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- September 30, 1968
- Country
- North Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Aircraft Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
38 names on the Wall carry the date September 30, 1968. In September 1968, 1,184 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.
Read the history
Also on Panel 42W, Line 51
- DOMENICK ANTHONY SPINELLICommander · September 30, 1968
- RONALD STUCKYSpecialist Four · September 30, 1968
- GERALD FRANCIS SUBLERLance Corporal · September 30, 1968
- GARY RAY TOWNSENDLance Corporal · September 30, 1968
From Oklahoma City
- LAVESTER LEE WILLIAMSCaptain · March 23, 1963
- GORDON RICHARD BROWNCaptain · October 24, 1963
- CHARLES KENNETH SIDESLance Corporal · March 26, 1965
- FRANK PETER WATSONCaptain · June 18, 1965
- LARRY DREW HARVEYCorporal · October 3, 1965
- GARY HOWARD JONESPrivate First Class · October 14, 1965
- GEORGE RAY THOMPSONSergeant · December 12, 1965
- JEFF GOUDEAU JRPrivate First Class · December 13, 1965
- GARY RAY ARTMANSpecialist Four · February 18, 1966
- JERRY D LEWISSpecialist Four · March 16, 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.