The Wall › Panel 63W › Texas › William Edward Smith
WILLIAM EDWARD SMITH
Platoon Sergeant · U.S. Army
May 31, 1932 – May 29, 1968
Service recordWilliam Edward Smith, of Rusk, Texas, served as a Platoon Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He died on May 29, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 35. His name is inscribed on Panel 63W, Line 13 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 63W · Line 13
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
- Platoon Sergeant (PSG)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 9 INF DIV
- Born
- May 31, 1932
- Home of record
- Rusk, Texas (Cherokee County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 29, 1968
- Age
- 35
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
59 names on the Wall carry the date May 29, 1968; he was the only one lost in Gia Dinh Province that day. In May 1968, 2,418 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 9th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 115 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 63W, Line 13
- ALBERT DAVID MENTONCorporal · November 14, 1967
- RONALD EUGENE SEGINELance Corporal · May 29, 1968
- VICTOR SIMONCorporal · May 29, 1968
- JAMES ALFRED SMITHPrivate First Class · May 29, 1968
- DANIEL JOSEPH WEIXELStaff Sergeant · May 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- RODDNEY ALLEN RODDAMPrivate First Class · Panel 63W, Line 12
From Rusk
- DONALD HENRY MABRYCaptain · August 7, 1968
- LOEL FLOYD LARGENTSergeant · April 10, 1969
- FRANCIS WAYNE TOWNSENDCaptain · August 13, 1972
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.