The Wall › Panel 25W › Pennsylvania › Olen Wainwright Smith
OLEN WAINWRIGHT SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 16, 1948 – May 12, 1969
Service recordOlen Wainwright Smith, of Erie, Pennsylvania, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on May 12, 1969, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 25W, Line 85 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 25W · Line 85
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)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- November 16, 1948
- Home of record
- Erie, Pennsylvania (Erie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 12, 1969
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
170 names on the Wall carry the date May 12, 1969; 39 of them were lost in Quảng Nam Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 25W, Line 85
- NATHAN BEDFORD SIMMONSSergeant First Class · May 12, 1969
- RONALD GAIL SMITHEESecond Lieutenant · May 12, 1969
- JAMES RODNEY SOWERSSergeant · May 12, 1969
- LARRY EUGENE SPAULDINGLance Corporal · May 12, 1969
Same unit, same day
- RICHARD LEE HOPKINSCorporal · Panel 25W, Line 72
- DAVID RUSSELL NEFFSpecialist Four · Panel 25W, Line 79
From Erie
- RONALD ROBERT MARTINStaff Sergeant · November 17, 1965
- JACK LEE NEIDRICKLance Corporal · March 17, 1966
- LEONARD IRA HENRYSergeant · May 6, 1966
- THOMAS JOSEPH KENNEDY JRCaptain · June 12, 1966
- DAVID WILLIAM HILLPrivate First Class · July 23, 1966
- CLIFTON MARTIN WALTERPrivate First Class · August 23, 1966
- DAVID JOSEPH IGNASIAKPrivate First Class · November 4, 1966
- DONALD ROY OSWALDGunnery Sergeant · December 23, 1966
- FRANK CARL SUVARA JRPrivate First Class · January 14, 1967
- JOSEPH EDWARDSSergeant · January 19, 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.