The Wall › Panel 8W › Wisconsin › Peter Alden Schmidt
PETER ALDEN SCHMIDT
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
November 7, 1949 – August 15, 1970
Service recordPeter Alden Schmidt, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on August 15, 1970, in Laos, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 8W, Line 115 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 8W · Line 115
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
- Aircraft Maintenance Apprentice (67A)
- Unit (as recorded)
- AMERICAL DIV
- Born
- November 7, 1949
- Home of record
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Milwaukee County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- August 15, 1970
- Age
- 20
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date August 15, 1970. In August 1970, 452 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The Americal Division, his unit in the record, lost 18 of its members that month.
He died in Laos while the air war over Laos was under way. From 1964 to 1973, U.S. aircraft bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail and supported the war in northern Laos; many of the Americans lost over Laos were never recovered.
His remains had not been recovered when the 2008 record was compiled. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency continues to search for Americans still missing from the war; families can find case information through dpaa.mil.
Read the history
On the Wall
Also on Panel 8W, Line 115
- HERBERT MICHAEL HADDENSpecialist Four · August 15, 1970
- FREDERICK E HUTTIE IIIStaff Sergeant · August 15, 1970
- JAMES WASHINGTON MATTHEWSSpecialist Five · August 15, 1970
- JOHN EDDIE MCGUIRESpecialist Four · August 15, 1970
Same unit, same day
- JAMES CHRISTOPHER BECKERFirst Lieutenant · Panel 8W, Line 113
- HARRY EDWARD CHESSERSpecialist Five · Panel 8W, Line 114
From Milwaukee
- TOM JOSEPH CRESSLieutenant · January 6, 1961
- ROBERT BURGERTSergeant · February 13, 1963
- PETER MATTHEW FEIERABENDPrivate First Class · February 16, 1964
- THADDEUS ZAJACSpecialist Four · September 27, 1965
- JAMES CALVIN WARDPrivate First Class · October 11, 1965
- TIMOTHY HOLTON JOHNSONPrivate First Class · November 6, 1965
- RICHARD WILLIAM SCHWENDLERCorporal · November 16, 1965
- MICHAEL ALFRED GRUBERPrivate First Class · December 5, 1965
- RICHARD JOSEPH BRUNKEPrivate First Class · December 14, 1965
- MICHAEL PETER MORANPrivate First Class · January 9, 1966
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.