The Wall › Panel 40E › Georgia › Robert Smith Griffith
ROBERT SMITH GRIFFITH
Staff Sergeant · U.S. Army
December 26, 1942 – February 19, 1968
Service recordRobert Smith Griffith, of Hapeville, Georgia, served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He was lost on February 19, 1968, in Laos, and was later declared dead. His name is inscribed on Panel 40E, Line 32 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 40E · Line 32
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
- Staff Sergeant (SSG)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 AVN BDE
- Born
- December 26, 1942
- Home of record
- Hapeville, Georgia (Fulton County)
Casualty
- Date of loss
- February 19, 1968
- Country
- Laos
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Declared Dead
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — crew
- First reported
- Missing in action
- Remains
- Not recovered as of the 2008 DoD record
Context · from the records
What was happening
93 names on the Wall carry the date February 19, 1968. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Aviation Brigade, his unit in the record, lost 61 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
Also on Panel 40E, Line 32
- BERNARD EDWARD SMITHSpecialist Four · February 19, 1968
- ENRIQUE LORENZO SOLIZSpecialist Four · February 19, 1968
- WILTON JAMES SULLINGER JRPrivate First Class · February 19, 1968
- LUCIEN CHARLES TESSIERCaptain · February 19, 1968
Same unit, same day
- STEPHEN COHANWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 40E, Line 18
- DAVID HARRY LEWISStaff Sergeant · Panel 40E, Line 24
- THOMAS JON MOOREWarrant Officer 1 · Panel 40E, Line 26
From Hapeville
- WILLIAM D ROBBINSSpecialist Four · December 4, 1966
- KENNETH RONALD HUNTERCaptain · November 9, 1967
- HAROLD LEE WALTONLance Corporal · July 7, 1968
- CHARLES EUGENE SMITHCorporal · October 15, 1968
- ERIC EUGENE GITTENSSpecialist Five · November 2, 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.