The Wall › Panel 27W › Michigan › Michael Lavern Smith
MICHAEL LAVERN SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
September 22, 1948 – April 12, 1969
Service recordMichael Lavern Smith, of Sumner, Michigan, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on April 12, 1969, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 27W, Line 66 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 27W · Line 66
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
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- September 22, 1948
- Home of record
- Sumner, Michigan (Gratiot County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- April 12, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date April 12, 1969; five of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In April 1969, 1,023 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 76 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 27W, Line 66
- CHARLES LEWIS LIPTAKPrivate First Class · April 12, 1969
- WALTER LEO PRITCHARD JRLieutenant Colonel · April 12, 1969
- DONALD GEORGE RESPECKISergeant · April 12, 1969
- THOMAS HARRY ROBERTSONSergeant · April 12, 1969
Same unit, same day
- STAMATIOS G ALEXANDER JRSecond Lieutenant · Panel 27W, Line 61
- ROBERT CARL KINGSergeant · Panel 27W, Line 65
- THOMAS HARRY ROBERTSONSergeant · Panel 27W, Line 66
- MILES D TOUCHBERRY JRSpecialist Four · Panel 27W, Line 68
From Sumner
- DOUGLAS DUANE RUEHLELance Corporal · June 3, 1969
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.