Name: 1LT Preston Lee Smith
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 09/05/1970 while performing the duty of Pilot.
Age at death: 23.0
Date of Birth: 09/23/1947
Home City: Essexville, MI
Service: IN branch of the reserve component of the U.S. Army.
Unit: 2 BDE 4 INF
Major organization: 4th Infantry Division
Flight class: 70-12
Service: IN branch of the U.S. Army.
The Wall location: 07W-040
Short Summary: Beheaded by rotor blade.
Aircraft: OH-6A tail number 68-17145
Country: South Vietnam
MOS: 1881
Primary cause: A/C Accident
Major attributing cause: aircraft connected not at sea
Compliment cause: vehicular accident
Vehicle involved: helicopter
Position in vehicle: pilot
Vehicle ownership: contract
Started Tour: 06/30/1970
"Official" listing: helicopter air casualty - pilot
The initial status of this person was: no previous report
Length of service: *
Location: Binh Dinh Province II Corps.
Reason: aircraft lost or crashed
Casualty type: Non-hostile - died of other causes
married male U.S. citizen
Race: American Indian
Religion: Baptist - other groups
Burial information: FLORAL GARDENS CEMETERY, BAY CITY, MI
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: non-battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 08/27/1997
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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