The Wall › Panel 5W › Indiana › Lyle Elton Smith
LYLE ELTON SMITH
Sergeant · U.S. Army
October 29, 1946 – February 19, 1971
Service recordLyle Elton Smith, of South Whitley, Indiana, served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on February 19, 1971, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 5W, Line 121 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 5W · Line 121
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
- Sergeant (SGT)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantry Operations And Intelligence Specialist (11F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 5 INF DIV MECH
- Born
- October 29, 1946
- Home of record
- South Whitley, Indiana (Whitley County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 19, 1971
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
16 names on the Wall carry the date February 19, 1971; seven of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1971, 387 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “5 INF DIV MECH”, his unit in the record, lost 26 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 5W, Line 121
- CLIFFORD WAYNE MARSHALLCorporal · February 19, 1971
- CHARLES TONEY MATTHEWSSergeant · February 19, 1971
- LEONARD ALLEN MONNETTSpecialist Five · February 19, 1971
- WADE HAMPTON ROLLINSSergeant · February 19, 1971
Same unit, same day
- ANTHONY JOSEPH CARACCILO JRCorporal · Panel 5W, Line 120
- ROBERT LLOYD DALTONPrivate First Class · Panel 5W, Line 120
- CLIFFORD WAYNE MARSHALLCorporal · Panel 5W, Line 121
- CHARLES TONEY MATTHEWSSergeant · Panel 5W, Line 121
From South Whitley
- ROBERT WESLEY WILFONGLance Corporal · July 29, 1967
- AVERY MERRILL NYE IIICorporal · March 16, 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.
