The Wall › Panel 18W › Missouri › James Wesley Smith
JAMES WESLEY SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
September 20, 1944 – September 10, 1969
Service recordJames Wesley Smith, of Napoleon, Missouri, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on September 10, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 18W, Line 65 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 18W · Line 65
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- September 20, 1944
- Home of record
- Napoleon, Missouri (Lafayette County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 10, 1969
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
15 names on the Wall carry the date September 10, 1969; four of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 48 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 18W, Line 65
- PETER THOMAS LUNDBERGWarrant Officer 1 · September 10, 1969
- MICHAEL JOHN MCGOVERN JRSpecialist Four · September 10, 1969
- GEORGE WILLIAM PEPEWarrant Officer 1 · September 10, 1969
- DAVID SCOTT SELDONPrivate First Class · September 10, 1969
Same unit, same day
- LONNIE BROWN JRSergeant First Class · Panel 18W, Line 64
- CHARLES EDWARD HANCOCKSpecialist Four · Panel 18W, Line 64
- MICHAEL JOHN MCGOVERN JRSpecialist Four · Panel 18W, Line 65
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.