The Wall › Panel 17W › Maryland › Russell Francis Smith
RUSSELL FRANCIS SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
October 18, 1948 – October 22, 1969
Service recordRussell Francis Smith, of Crownsville, Maryland, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on October 22, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 21. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 107 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 107
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
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- October 18, 1948
- Home of record
- Crownsville, Maryland (Anne Arundel County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- October 22, 1969
- Age
- 21
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
14 names on the Wall carry the date October 22, 1969; five of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In October 1969, 600 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 42 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 107
- VINCENT SALDANOSergeant · October 22, 1969
- RICHARD WOODROW YATESHospitalman · October 22, 1969
- ANDREW JOHN ABRAMSONWarrant Officer 1 · October 23, 1969
- LARRY MICHAEL CLEVELANDSpecialist Four · October 23, 1969
Same unit, same day
- VINCENT SALDANOSergeant · Panel 17W, Line 107
From Crownsville
- GARDNER DORSEYPrivate First Class · January 2, 1970
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.