ELDON WAYNE SMITH
Panel 41W ROW 020 - 06-Oct-68

Sergeant Eldon Wayne Smith 218224/6242 USMC was from Canada although his home of record is listed as Waterville, Me., where he enlisted. He was born on July 13, 1947. He arrived in Vietnam on January 3, 1968. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. He died on October 6, 1968 at the medical facility at Quang Tri Air Base in Quang Tri Province while being operated on by the squadron surgeon. He was a gunner on CH-46D 152563 which received machine gun fire while on a resupply mission. The pilot of the aircraft was Major James Wells, later Commanding Officer of the squadron. He was flying with only the chest plate of his body armor, probably because the weight of the armor was uncomfortable. He was struck by one round in the upper back, just below the trapezius muscle which exited at the base of the neck, just above the collar-bone. The bullet severed a major artery in his neck, but quick action on the part of the crew by applying direct pressure to the wound kept him alive until his arrival at Charlie Med. He died of wounds received. He was not married. His race is officially listed as Caucasian. His religion was Protestant. He had two years service at the time of his death. Shortly after this incident the same machine gun fired on and hit an aircraft flown by Major Don Waunch who received superficial wounds to the face and the eye from fragments. Waunch recorded the position of the gun, which was later destroyed by fixed wing aircraft. Sergeant Smith’s mother wrote a letter to the squadron telling how proud he was of what we were doing and how proud she was of him.

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