The Wall › Panel 46E › Alabama › Joe Wilkins Smith
JOE WILKINS SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 29, 1948 – March 26, 1968
Service recordJoe Wilkins Smith, of Prattville, Alabama, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 26, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 46E, Line 42 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 46E · Line 42
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
- November 29, 1948
- Home of record
- Prattville, Alabama (Autauga County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 26, 1968
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
87 names on the Wall carry the date March 26, 1968; 22 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 208 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên 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 46E, Line 42
- LARRY EDWARD GREENCorporal · March 26, 1968
- JAMES FRANCIS STOLINSKISergeant · March 26, 1968
- HOYLE TERRY JRPrivate First Class · March 26, 1968
- HARVEY JOSEPH TOMPKINSSecond Lieutenant · March 26, 1968
Same unit, same day
- EDWIN LAWRENCE ARMSTRONGPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 27
- CRAIG PHILIP AVERILLCorporal · Panel 46E, Line 27
- JACK EDWARD DERRICOSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 31
- ALVIN RALPH GIBBLEPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 33
- CHARLES LAVERNE HATCHERSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 35
- JOHN RICHARD HORTONPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 35
- GLEN DAVID HUBBARDSpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 35
- PHILIP JAMES KREK JRSergeant · Panel 46E, Line 36
- WAYNE DALE KRUEGERPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 36
- ROGER MARK LINKPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 37
- PHILIP CRAIG BENNSecond Lieutenant · Panel 46E, Line 40
- ERNESTO SALVADOR PEREASpecialist Four · Panel 46E, Line 40
- WAYNE ERIC RISNERPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 41
- HOYLE TERRY JRPrivate First Class · Panel 46E, Line 42
From Prattville
- SAMUEL GERALD CROWELLSpecialist Four · December 31, 1966
- JOSEPH MARVINPrivate · July 4, 1967
- WILLIAM EDWARD MURFFLance Corporal · July 21, 1967
- ALBERT DAVISSergeant · April 21, 1968
- WILLIAM CLYDE NORTHINGTONLance Corporal · March 4, 1969
- JAMES EARL BOUYERPrivate First Class · April 1, 1969
- RONALD GARY CROWEPrivate First Class · June 11, 1969
- WILLIAM EARL SUTTLEPrivate First Class · July 15, 1969
- MICHAEL EUGENE WHITEPrivate First Class · August 25, 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.