The Wall › Panel 30E › Ohio › John William Smith
JOHN WILLIAM SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
March 20, 1946 – November 20, 1967
Service recordJohn William Smith, of Celina, Ohio, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 20, 1967, in Kontum Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 30E, Line 49 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 30E · Line 49
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)
- 173 AIRBORNE BDE
- Born
- March 20, 1946
- Home of record
- Celina, Ohio (Mercer County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 20, 1967
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Kontum
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
79 names on the Wall carry the date November 20, 1967; 72 of them were lost in Kon Tum Province. In November 1967, 1,133 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 212 of its members that month.
He died in Kon Tum Province while the Battle of Đắk Tô was under way. Around Đắk Tô in the Central Highlands (3–23 November 1967), the 4th Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade fought North Vietnamese regiments for the hills along the border, ending with the assault on Hill 875 on Thanksgiving Day. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 30E, Line 49
- EARL MARVIN FREEMAN JRMajor · November 11, 1967
- JESSE SANCHEZSpecialist Four · November 20, 1967
- ERVIN SPAINSpecialist Four · November 20, 1967
- HARRY HERBERT SPENCERPrivate First Class · November 20, 1967
- ERNEST RAY TAYLOR JRSpecialist Five · November 20, 1967
Same unit, same day
- LOUIS GEORGE WASHI ARNOLDPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 37
- GREGORY CHARLES BAUERPrivate · Panel 30E, Line 37
- BRUCE MARTIN BENZINGPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 37
- NEAL IRA BESTPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 37
- MANFRED FRANCIS CAMAROTESergeant · Panel 30E, Line 37
- DAVID BROOKS BETCHELSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 38
- ROBERT TILDON BLYSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 38
- HARVEY LEE BROWN IIISpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 38
- RICHARD THOMAS BUSENLEHNERFirst Lieutenant · Panel 30E, Line 38
- ERNESTO SOLIZ CANTUSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 38
- THOMAS LOUIS CORBETTSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 39
- CLAUDE LEE CRAWFORDPrivate · Panel 30E, Line 39
- BRUCE WAYNE CUNNINGHAMSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 39
- TROY ALEXANDER GALYANSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 39
- JOHN DAGOSTINOPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 40
- ROBERT PAUL DEGENPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 40
- LARRY AIME DENTREMONTPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 40
- CASIMIRO DIANDAPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 40
- JOHN MICHAEL DUNBARSpecialist Four · Panel 30E, Line 41
- JAMES CABELL FARLEYPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 41
- MICHAEL WILLIAM FERENCEPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 41
- ANGEL RAMO FLORES-JIMENEZPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 41
- CHARLES RICHARD CREWSPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 42
- JUAN MANUEL GARCIAPrivate First Class · Panel 30E, Line 42
From Celina
- DAVID KIM DEETERPrivate First Class · April 19, 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.