The Wall › Panel 1W › Tennessee › Roger Myers Smelser
ROGER MYERS SMELSER
Petty Officer Third Class · U.S. Navy
August 21, 1950 – July 2, 1972
Service recordRoger Myers Smelser, of Knoxville, Tennessee, served as a Petty Officer Third Class in the U.S. Navy. He died on July 2, 1972, in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 1W, Line 51 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 1W · Line 51
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. Navy
- Rank
- Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Radioman (RM)
- Born
- August 21, 1950
- Home of record
- Knoxville, Tennessee (Knox County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- July 2, 1972
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Nam
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Illness
- Circumstance
- Infectious Disease
Context · from the records
What was happening
Two names on the Wall carry the date July 2, 1972; he was the only one lost in Quảng Nam Province that day. In July 1972, 53 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Nam Province while the Easter Offensive was under way. On 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched its largest offensive since 1968, attacking across the DMZ, toward An Lộc and into the Central Highlands. By then few U.S. ground troops remained; American advisers and air power fought alongside the South Vietnamese.
Also on Panel 1W, Line 51
- STEVEN LOGAN BENNETTCaptain · June 29, 1972
- PERCY GUY BROCK JRSergeant First Class · June 29, 1972
- STEPHEN MARK WHITESpecialist Five · June 30, 1972
- JOHN MICHAEL COLEFirst Lieutenant · July 2, 1972
From Knoxville
- GARY D SMITHPrivate First Class · November 17, 1965
- WAYNE THOMAS LONGPrivate · December 27, 1965
- RAYMOND LEE HILLSergeant · January 30, 1966
- TOMMY EDWARD HILLPetty Officer Second Class · February 14, 1966
- HUGH ALLEN LOVEPrivate First Class · February 17, 1966
- JAMES ROBERT MCLEMOREPrivate First Class · February 28, 1966
- DONALD RICHARD LUMLEYSecond Lieutenant · March 4, 1966
- JESSE J COFFEYSergeant · April 1, 1966
- CHARLES WILLIAM WOOLIVERLance Corporal · May 4, 1966
- JOHN HENRY MORGANPrivate First Class · May 26, 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.