The WallVietnam Veterans Memorial · The Lake Norman Brief
The 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, enters Snuol, Cambodia, 4 May 1970.
The 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, enters Snuol, Cambodia, 4 May 1970. Photo: U.S. Army, public domain. Shown for the time and place, not a photograph of Richard Smith Kendrick.

The Wall › Panel 11W › Virginia › Richard Smith Kendrick

RICHARD SMITH KENDRICK

Private First Class · U.S. Army

January 16, 1950 – May 7, 1970

Service record

Richard Smith Kendrick, of Clintwood, Virginia, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on May 7, 1970, in Cambodia, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 11W, Line 125 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

On the Wall

Panel 11W · Line 125

Position of Panel 11W on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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
Drafted (Selective Service)
Occupation
Infantryman (11B)
Unit (as recorded)
1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
Born
January 16, 1950
Home of record
Clintwood, Virginia (Dickenson County)

Casualty

Date of death
May 7, 1970
Age
20
Country
Cambodia
Casualty type
Hostile
Category
Killed in Action
Circumstance
Small Arms Fire

Context · from the records

What was happening

46 names on the Wall carry the date May 7, 1970. In May 1970, 917 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.

The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 127 of its members that month.

He died in Cambodia while the Cambodian incursion was under way. From 29 April to 30 June 1970, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces crossed into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese base areas and supply caches; the announcement set off campus protests, including at Kent State.

Also on Panel 11W, Line 125

Same unit, same day

From Clintwood

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.