The Wall › Panel 39E › California › Jesse Lee Smith
JESSE LEE SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
August 31, 1946 – February 13, 1968
Service recordJesse Lee Smith, of Los Angeles, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on February 13, 1968, in Binh Long Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 39E, Line 26 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 39E · Line 26
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)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- August 31, 1946
- Home of record
- Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 13, 1968
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Binh Long
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
60 names on the Wall carry the date February 13, 1968; he was the only one lost in Binh Long Province that day. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 144 of its members that month.
He died in Binh Long 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.
Also on Panel 39E, Line 26
- LESTER EDWARD SMART JRSpecialist Four · February 13, 1968
- KELLYNN VAL SNOWPrivate First Class · February 13, 1968
- FELIX SOSA-CAMEJOCaptain · February 13, 1968
- WAYNE JOHN SPARESergeant · February 13, 1968
Same unit, same day
- FRANKLIN DELANO R HATTONSergeant · Panel 39E, Line 21
- ROBERT CHARLES MAURICEPrivate First Class · Panel 39E, Line 23
- FELIX SOSA-CAMEJOCaptain · Panel 39E, Line 26
From Los Angeles
- JAMES WILLIAM MCNALLYTechnical Sergeant · October 23, 1963
- FRANK JOHN HOLGUINPrivate First Class · March 15, 1964
- RICHARD DEAN GOSSCaptain · August 29, 1964
- JOHN LOWERY MCCOYSergeant First Class · September 26, 1964
- JAMES HENRY MCLEANMaster Sergeant · February 9, 1965
- DWIGHT GLENN FRAKESChief Petty Officer · February 24, 1965
- AARON HAROLD WESTERNPrivate First Class · June 16, 1965
- EDWARD JAMES ANDERSPrivate First Class · June 18, 1965
- MAURICE RICHARD HILLPrivate · June 29, 1965
- WILLIAM WARREN HAILLieutenant Colonel · August 2, 1965
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.