The Wall › Panel 16W › South Carolina › James Thurston Smoak JR
JAMES THURSTON SMOAK JR
Corporal · U.S. Army
August 1, 1949 – November 21, 1969
Service recordJames Thurston Smoak JR, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He died on November 21, 1969, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 16W, Line 107 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 16W · Line 107
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
- Corporal (CPL)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 196 LIGHT INF BDE
- Born
- August 1, 1949
- Home of record
- Orangeburg, South Carolina (Orangeburg County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 21, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Tin
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
21 names on the Wall carry the date November 21, 1969; six of them were lost in Quảng Tín Province. In November 1969, 660 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 196th Light Infantry Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 12 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 16W, Line 107
- ADOLPHUS HALL JRPrivate First Class · November 21, 1969
- CHARLES IRVIN MITCHELLPrivate First Class · November 21, 1969
- JOHNNY WILLIAM TRAINHAMSergeant · November 21, 1969
- ANTHONY A VIRBICKASCorporal · November 21, 1969
Same unit, same day
- DWIGHT GARY FOREMANCorporal · Panel 16W, Line 105
- WILLIAM FREDERICK LEASECorporal · Panel 16W, Line 106
- ANTHONY A VIRBICKASCorporal · Panel 16W, Line 107
From Orangeburg
- ANDERSON HAROLD KEYPrivate First Class · January 13, 1966
- FREDDIE LEE ROBINSONSpecialist Four · May 16, 1967
- JAMES WALTER SANFORDPrivate First Class · June 22, 1967
- ROBERT PENDARVISSpecialist Four · June 29, 1967
- JOHN WILLIE LUCASSpecialist Four · November 24, 1967
- EDWARD LOUIS WILLIAMSONPrivate First Class · November 30, 1967
- THOMAS GRANTPlatoon Sergeant · December 8, 1967
- HUGH GREY WILLARDSergeant · December 23, 1967
- RICHARD WORRELL KAPP JRSecond Lieutenant · March 1, 1968
- DOUGLAS MONROE BACOTCorporal · March 24, 1968
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.