The Wall › Panel 24W › Missouri › William Walter Smith
WILLIAM WALTER SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Army
May 28, 1949 – May 21, 1969
Service recordWilliam Walter Smith, of King City, Missouri, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on May 21, 1969, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 19. His name is inscribed on Panel 24W, Line 71 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 24W · Line 71
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
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Infantryman (11B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 101 AIRBORNE DIV
- Born
- May 28, 1949
- Home of record
- King City, Missouri (Gentry County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- May 21, 1969
- Age
- 19
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Grenade
Context · from the records
What was happening
51 names on the Wall carry the date May 21, 1969; seven of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In May 1969, 1,456 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 101st Airborne Division, his unit in the record, lost 178 of its members that month.
Also on Panel 24W, Line 71
- JAMES IRA SANFORDPrivate First Class · May 21, 1969
- JAMES SAM SCARMEAS JRCorporal · May 21, 1969
- LYNN DOYLE SHUGARTPrivate First Class · May 21, 1969
- CLARENCE SIZEMORESergeant · May 21, 1969
Same unit, same day
- L C CARTERSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 63
- PATRICK REGAN DIEHLCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 64
- LOUIS EARL FENCEROYPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 65
- ROBERT EUGENE GOODNERPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 66
- CHARLES E HAWKINS JRSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 66
- EDWARD JOSEPH HOGANSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 67
- THOMAS PETER JACKSON JRPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 67
- ALBERT JOHNSON JRPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 67
- ROY GIBSON MATTHEWSPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 68
- LEE ALLAN NAPIERPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 68
- MICHAEL MAXWELL HATZELLCorporal · Panel 24W, Line 69
- CHARLES HUBERT PEARCE JRSergeant · Panel 24W, Line 69
- EDISON RICHARD PHILLIPSPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 69
- JAMES TROY RALPHSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 70
- PEDRO ANTONIO RIOSSergeant First Class · Panel 24W, Line 70
- KEITH NEWTON STARNES JRSpecialist Four · Panel 24W, Line 70
- JAMES IRA SANFORDPrivate First Class · Panel 24W, Line 71
From King City
- RALPH DEAN VEALESergeant · March 8, 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.