The Wall › Panel 4W › Louisiana › William David Smith
WILLIAM DAVID SMITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
September 20, 1950 – March 24, 1971
Service recordWilliam David Smith, of Lafayette, Louisiana, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on March 24, 1971, in Binh Thuy Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 4W, Line 74 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 4W · Line 74
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
- Regular
- Occupation
- Ah-1 Attack Helicopter Repairer (67Y)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 CAV DIV AIRMOBILE
- Born
- September 20, 1950
- Home of record
- Lafayette, Louisiana
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 24, 1971
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Binh Thuy
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Helicopter Crash — Passenger (MC)
Context · from the records
What was happening
18 names on the Wall carry the date March 24, 1971; two of them were lost in Binh Thuy Province. In March 1971, 429 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), his unit in the record, lost 31 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 4W, Line 74
- THOMAS CHRIST SHEPHERD SRSergeant First Class · March 24, 1971
- GREGORY MARTIN STONECorporal · March 24, 1971
- WILLIAM F THOMPSON JRSpecialist Four · March 24, 1971
- RONALD FREDERICK YALEFirst Lieutenant · March 24, 1971
Same unit, same day
- STEVEN MICHAEL LARRABEEChief Warrant Officer 2 · Panel 4W, Line 73
From Lafayette
- GEORGE PARKER MCKNIGHTCaptain · December 11, 1965
- ROY JAMES RICHARDPrivate · May 29, 1966
- CARROLL JAMES HEBERTPrivate First Class · November 29, 1966
- PATRICK RONALD MURPHYSpecialist Four · March 14, 1967
- RAY WESLEY RHODUSSpecialist Four · April 1, 1967
- KENNETH JOHN STUTESLance Corporal · July 5, 1967
- ARTHUR J DELA HOUSSAYE JRCaptain · January 31, 1968
- THOMAS TRUETT HENSLEYMajor · March 17, 1968
- WALTER ALVIN SOUTHER IIICaptain · June 24, 1968
- HUBERT SINEGAL JRPrivate First Class · January 5, 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.