The Wall › Panel 31W › Texas › Willie Franklin Smith
WILLIE FRANKLIN SMITH
Private First Class · U.S. Marine Corps
December 5, 1945 – February 25, 1969
Service recordWillie Franklin Smith, of Houston, Texas, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Marine Corps. He died on February 25, 1969, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, at age 23. His name is inscribed on Panel 31W, Line 59 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 31W · Line 59
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. Marine Corps
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Regular
- Occupation
- Rifleman (0311)
- Born
- December 5, 1945
- Home of record
- Houston, Texas (Harris County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 25, 1969
- Age
- 23
- Province
- Quang Tri
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Small Arms Fire
Context · from the records
What was happening
106 names on the Wall carry the date February 25, 1969; 60 of them were lost in Quảng Trị Province. In February 1969, 1,304 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Quảng Trị Province while Operation Dewey Canyon was under way. In Operation Dewey Canyon (22 January–18 March 1969) the 9th Marines struck North Vietnamese base areas in the Đa Krông and A Shau valleys, the last major Marine offensive of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Read the history
Also on Panel 31W, Line 59
- JAMES EDWARD SMITHPrivate First Class · February 25, 1969
- JOHN MICHAEL SULLIVANPetty Officer Third Class · February 25, 1969
- JAMES KENNETH SUTTONSergeant First Class · February 25, 1969
- JAMES ELROY TITUSSergeant · February 25, 1969
From Houston
- JOSEPH MICHAEL FAHEY JRCaptain · February 11, 1962
- JOHN F SHAUGHNESSY JRCaptain · February 3, 1963
- RICHARD DALE HILLAirman Second Class · December 6, 1963
- HUGHIE DARELL ADAMSMajor · January 7, 1964
- ALBERT LAWRENCE SHIMEKPrivate First Class · April 10, 1964
- BYRON CLARK STONECaptain · August 20, 1964
- JAMES EDWARD HAVEMANNWarrant Officer 1 · October 7, 1964
- ROBERT GRAHAM BELLMajor · May 16, 1965
- LEROY ANTHONY BOURGEOISPrivate First Class · June 18, 1965
- ROBERT FILMORE BATSONSergeant · August 18, 1965
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.