 Memorial Fund |
Remember...Robert Lee Smith
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Robert Lee Smith was born on November 6, 1943, in the town of Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia. Robert was the son of Effie G. Smith, who also had four other children: Ethel, Fred, Elsie Jennings, and Mary Ann Zella. His life was mostly spent within the small coal town of Welch, where he graduated from Welch High School in 1964. Robert was extremely enthusiastic about serving his country and enlisted in the military right out of high school.
Robert grew up during a period of time where cool cars, Elvis, and TV were all hot topics. During the 1940s and 50s, Welch was in a period of economic prosperity. Welch's economy, not unlike many other towns at the time, was due to the coal industry. This thriving industry made Welch a wonderful place for Robert to grow up.
| In March of 1965, the United States deployed troops into Vietnam to halt the communist takeover of South Vietnam by the Viet Cong. The United States aided the South Vietnamese resistance in order to help contain and stop the rise of communism. On August 16, 1965, about half a year after the first United States troops entered Vietnam, Robert started his tour of duty. During his two years in the Army, he achieved the rank of Specialist 4th Class (SP4) and served as a light weapons infantryman with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. The 1st Cavalry Division became an air assault/airmobile unit that utilized helicopters on a large-scale such as troop carriers, cargo lift ships, and medevacs. It also used aerial rocket artillery, which was never before implemented, but by doing so, the division freed the infantry from the tyranny of the terrain to attack the enemy at the time and place of its choosing. |  Insignia for the 1st Cavalry Division |
On January 28, 1966, the 1st Cavalry Division would meet enemy forces in the Binh Dinh Province of South Vietnam. At the time, this was the largest search-and-destroy operation to date-Operation Masher/White Wing/Thang Phong II. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), South Vietnamese, and Korean forces would sweep through Binh Dinh Province in the central lowlands along the coast.
The purpose of the operation was to drive the North Vietnamese out of the province and destroy enemy supply areas. In late January, it became the first large unit operation conducted across corps boundaries when the cavalrymen linked up with Double Eagle, a U.S. Marine Corps operation intended to destroy the North Vietnamese 325A Division. Altogether, there were reported enemy casualties of 2,389 by the time the operation ended.
According to David Burns Sigler's Vietnam Battle Chronology: U.S. Army and Marine Corps Combat Operations, 1965-1973 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 1992), elements of the 1st Cavalry Division engaged the 7th and 9th Battalions, 33rd NVA Regiment, near the hamlet of Cu Nghi about eight miles north of Bong Son in Binh Dinh. The bloody fight began on January 28, 1966, and continued for three days. In the end, there were 57 confirmed deaths by small-arms fire. SP4 Smith was among those 57 men who would not make it out of the conflict alive. He died on January 29, 1966, from small-arms fire.
Unfortunately, SP4 Smith would not be the last young soldier to be met with this fate. Like many of his brothers at the front, he died too young. He is buried at the Belcher Mountain Cemetery in Welch, West Virginia. For his service and sacrifice, Robert Lee Smith received the Combat Infantry Badge, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart.
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Article prepared by Shaun P. Platthy, Jake P. Parker, and Maj. (Ret) T.B. McGee, George Washington High School JROTC
December 2018
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
