The Wall › Panel 14E › California › Rickford Ray Schmidt
RICKFORD RAY SCHMIDT
Private First Class · U.S. Army
October 17, 1946 – January 9, 1967
Service recordRickford Ray Schmidt, of Lawndale, California, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on January 9, 1967, in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 14E, Line 3 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 14E · Line 3
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.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 INF DIV
- Born
- October 17, 1946
- Home of record
- Lawndale, California (Los Angeles County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- January 9, 1967
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Duong
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
29 names on the Wall carry the date January 9, 1967; three of them were lost in Bình Dương Province. In January 1967, 638 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 69 of its members that month.
He died in Bình Dương Province while Operation Cedar Falls was under way. Operation Cedar Falls (8–26 January 1967) sent some 30,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops into the “Iron Triangle” northwest of Saigon to destroy Viet Cong base areas and tunnels. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 14E, Line 3
- VERN LEE PRAYSergeant · January 9, 1967
- JOHN ANDREW SCHOLLARDPrivate First Class · January 9, 1967
- VENNIE LEE SMITHPrivate First Class · January 9, 1967
- JACKIE L WAYMIRESergeant · January 9, 1967
Same unit, same day
- JAMES RAYMOND ARTHURSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 129
- TOM FLANAGANSergeant · Panel 13E, Line 130
- NATHAN EUGENE CHATMONSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 131
- CARLYLE LEROY GOULDSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 131
- MICHAEL ALBERT KRAFTSpecialist Four · Panel 13E, Line 131
- DAVID B MERRILLPrivate First Class · Panel 14E, Line 1
- BOBBY JOE QUINNPrivate First Class · Panel 14E, Line 2
- VERN LEE PRAYSergeant · Panel 14E, Line 3
- JOHN ANDREW SCHOLLARDPrivate First Class · Panel 14E, Line 3
From Lawndale
- JIMMY DEVER BACCUSPrivate First Class · July 28, 1966
- WILLIAM A THORNTON JRFirst Lieutenant · February 1, 1968
- JERRY DOYLE ATKINSONCorporal · March 30, 1968
- BOBBY JOE GRAVELSpecialist Four · April 6, 1968
- BRUCE STUART LINDSAYLance Corporal · May 4, 1968
- DARRELL LEROY ENGLEPrivate First Class · December 23, 1968
- BYRON LEE NOTT JRSecond Lieutenant · December 31, 1968
- DALE GEORGE HELGESONSergeant · March 1, 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.