The Wall › Panel 1W › South Carolina › John Lewis Smith
JOHN LEWIS SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
January 6, 1954 – September 11, 1972
Service recordJohn Lewis Smith, of Swansea, South Carolina, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on September 11, 1972, in Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam, at age 18. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 72 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 72
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Clerk-Typist (71B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
- Born
- January 6, 1954
- Home of record
- Swansea, South Carolina (Lexington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 11, 1972
- Age
- 18
- Province
- Bien Hoa
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Vehicle Crash (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
Two names on the Wall carry the date September 11, 1972; two of them were lost in Bien Hoa Province. In September 1972, 36 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 3 of its members that month.
He died in Bien Hoa Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 72
- STEPHEN OWEN MUSSELMANLieutenant · September 10, 1972
- ROBERT LEE HARLEYSpecialist Four · September 11, 1972
- MICHAEL PAUL RICELieutenant · September 13, 1972
- GEORGE ERNEST GILLILANDSergeant · September 14, 1972
Same unit, same day
- ROBERT LEE HARLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 1W, Line 72
From Swansea
- ERSKIN DAN LIVINGSTONStaff Sergeant · August 14, 1967
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.