SMITH WILLIAM ARTHUR JR

Click here for more information about this incident

Name: CW2 William Arthur Smith, Jr.
Status: Remains were returned on 2000 from an incident on 09/27/1968 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Declared dead on 10/29/1976.
Age at death: 23.3
Date of Birth: 06/24/1945
Home City: Battle Creek, MI
Service: AV branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: A/9 AVN 9 INF
Major organization: 9th Infantry Division
Flight class: 68-503/68-3
Service: AV branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 42W-033
Short Summary: Shot down in river south of Siagon, not recovered until 1999 or 2000. Remains found by a diver near the crash site.
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 67-17164
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 062B = Helicopter Pilot, Utility and Light Cargo Single Rotor
Primary cause: Hostile fire
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: small arms fire
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Vehicle ownership: government
Started Tour: 05/27/1968
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
The initial status of this person was: missing in action - bonified
Length of service: *
Location: Kien Hoa Province IV Corps.
Military grid coordinates of event: XS620365

Additional information about this casualty:
According to the family, his remains were located by a salvage diver very close to where the plane crashed in the river. They found the ID plate for the plane and some bones. Then, came the DNA testing.

Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Hostile - died while missing
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Protestant - no denominational preference
Burial information: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, VA
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: warrant officer
This record was last updated on 04/17/2005


This information is available on CD-ROM.

Additional information is available on KIAs at http://www.coffeltdatabase.org

Please send additions or corrections to: The VHPA Webmaster Gary Roush.

KIA statistics

Return to the Helicopter Pilot KIA name list

Return to the KIA panel date index

Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023


Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association