SMITH, WILLIAM WARD

Name: William Ward Smith
Branch/Rank: United States Air Force/O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 15 January 1934
Home City of Record: SEARCY AR
Date of Loss: 23 July 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 165128 North  1065054 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: O1E #6268
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: pilot apparently rescued
Refno: 0405

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File. 2020

REMARKS:

CACCF/CRASH/AIRCREW/12 YRS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE/QUANG TRI

No further information available at this time.

================

Library of Congress files:

South Vietnam, pre-1975: Biographic/Site Report on Case 0405
Country: South Vietnam, pre-1975

Name: Smith, William W.

Subjects: Aircraft downed; Crash site; Quang Tri Province

Reel: 457

Reference Number: 0405-0-01

Page: 293-295

Type of Document: Miscellaneous

Date of Report: 97 06 04

Date of Information: 66 07 23

Originator: JTFFA

Category: Miscellaneous PW Files


RVN: Biographic Site Report for REFNO 0405
Country: RVN

Name: SMITH, WILLIAM W.

Subjects: Crash site; QUANG TRI PROVINCE; BEN HAI DISTRICT; Personal effects

Reel: 366

Page: 23-28

Type of Document: Automated Data Extract

Date of Report: 93 10 18

Date of Information: 66 07 23

Originator: JTFFA

Category: JTFFA FILES

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYeMEAW

CAPT WILLIAM WARD SMITH

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Captain William Ward Smith, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Arkansas, served with the 505th Tactical Control Group. On July 23, 1966, he was piloting an O-1E Bird Dog (tail number 57-6268, call sign "Bird Dog 93") on a visual reconnaissance mission when he was involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Marine Corps H-34 helicopter. The right wing was torn from the fuselage of the O-1 and the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of grid coordinates XD 969 646. A search and rescue helicopter located and lowered a man to the crash site, but he was unable to locate Capt Smith's remains among the wreckage. Further attempts to locate his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Captain Smith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

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