The Wall › Panel 17W › Illinois › Walter Leroy Smiles
WALTER LEROY SMILES
Specialist Five · U.S. Army
July 17, 1947 – September 24, 1969
Service recordWalter Leroy Smiles, of Bellevue, Illinois, served as a Specialist Five in the U.S. Army. He died on September 24, 1969, in Hua Nghia Province, South Vietnam, at age 22. His name is inscribed on Panel 17W, Line 6 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 17W · Line 6
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 Five (SP5)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Food Service Specialist (94B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 12 MED BN 68 MED GRP 44 MED BDE
- Born
- July 17, 1947
- Home of record
- Bellevue, Illinois (Peoria County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- September 24, 1969
- Age
- 22
- Province
- Hua Nghia
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Non-hostile
- Category
- Accident
- Circumstance
- Vehicle Crash (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
20 names on the Wall carry the date September 24, 1969; he was the only one lost in Hua Nghia Province that day. In September 1969, 664 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
Also on Panel 17W, Line 6
- LESLIE WAYNE WILLIAMSLance Corporal · September 24, 1969
- JAMES BERNARD WOODS JRPrivate First Class · September 24, 1969
- LOWRY TAYLOR CUTHBERTSergeant · September 25, 1969
- JOHNNY RAYMOND ESQUIERDOPrivate First Class · September 25, 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.