The Wall › Panel 6W › Indiana › Ronald Eugene Smith
RONALD EUGENE SMITH
Sergeant First Class · U.S. Army
March 29, 1940 – November 28, 1970
Service recordRonald Eugene Smith, of Covington, Indiana, served as a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on November 28, 1970, in Laos, at age 30. His name is inscribed on Panel 6W, Line 89 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 6W · Line 89
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
- Sergeant First Class (SFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM
- Born
- March 29, 1940
- Home of record
- Covington, Indiana (Fountain County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- November 28, 1970
- Age
- 30
- 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
11 names on the Wall carry the date November 28, 1970. In November 1970, 347 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “US ARMY REP OF VIETNAM”, his unit in the record, lost 42 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 6W, Line 89
- THOMAS CALVERT FINNFirst Lieutenant · November 24, 1970
- CRAIG NELSON WARDLance Corporal · November 28, 1970
- EARNEST WILLIAMSPrivate First Class · November 28, 1970
- GARY ANDERSONPrivate · November 29, 1970
- JOHN ROBERT BEANSergeant First Class · November 29, 1970
Same unit, same day
- CHARLES FORAK CREAMER IIIChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 6W, Line 87
- FRANKLIN U BRECKENRIDGESpecialist Four · Panel 6W, Line 88
- ALBERT HALLPrivate First Class · Panel 6W, Line 88
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.