THE WALL OF FACES

Former MIA Captain Joseph Stanley Smith, U.S. Air Force, was graduated from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, in 1967. Capt. Smith's F-100D Super Sabre supersonic jet aircraft was shot down while on a combat air mission over Cambodia in April 1971. More than 36 years later, in May 2017, his remains were positively identified.

A "friend of Notre Dame" completed research on Notre Dame men who died or are MIA in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War and those who died while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era. Appropriately, the researcher included LT Mike McCormick. That information is on the ND 1969 blogspot at this link/URL:

https://notredameclassof1969blog.blogspot.com/2018/08/university-of-notre-dames-vietnam.html

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) website at the below link, the remains of former MIA Captain Joseph Stanley Smith, University of Notre Dame Class of 1967, U.S. Air Force, were accounted for on 4 May 2017:

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000kZJbbEAG

As of the date of this entry, Captain Smith is one of 1,061 Americans, formerly MIA from the Vietnam War, now accounted for/identified from Southeast Asia. There are still 1,573 Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War.

On the date of his loss, 4 April 1971, 1st Lt Smith was the pilot of a single-seat North American F-100D Super Sabre supersonic jet aircraft from the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 401st Tactical Fighter Wing and the lead in a two-aircraft combat mission against communist enemy targets in Kampong Thum Province, Cambodia. After making a pass over the target, 1st Lt Smith's aircraft crashed and caught fire. He did not eject before his aircraft went down and he was killed in the crash. His remains were not recovered at the time due to enemy presence preventing any ground search. In 2002, a unilateral team excavated the crash site in Cambodia and recovered human remains during the investigation. Scientists at DPAA's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) used modern forensic techniques to identify the remains as those of Joseph Smith. While in MIA status, 1st Lt Smith was promoted to the rank of Captain along with his USAF contemporaries.

Information about the 4 April 1971 shoot-down of an F-100D Super Sabre jet aircraft piloted by former MIA Captain Joseph Stanley Smith, University of Notre Dame Class of 1967, USAF, from the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron, launched from Phan Rang Air Base, RVN, is available at the Fixed-Wing Air Losses in Vietnam website at this link/URL:

https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2724

At the time of the incident, Joseph Smith was a 1st Lt. While in MIA status, the USAF promoted him along with his contemporaries to the rank of Captain.

Former MIA Captain Joseph Stanley Smith, University of Notre Dame Class of 1967, U.S. Air Force, has his name chiseled into one of the Vietnam War "Courts of the Missing" (Court "A," Air Force Section) at the Honolulu Memorial in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the "Punchbowl") on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii. See the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) website at this link/URL:

https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/smith%3Djoseph-37

Because his remains were recovered and buried in a known gravesite, Captain Smith has a "Rosette" placed next to his name on the Honolulu Memorial.

Information about the 4 April 1971 shoot-down of an F-100D Super Sabre jet aircraft piloted by former MIA Captain Joseph Stanley Smith, University of Notre Dame Class of 1967, USAF, from the 352nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing launched from Phan Rang Air Base, RVN, is available at the Fixed-Wing Air Losses in Vietnam website at this link/URL:

https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2724

At the time of the incident, Joseph Smith was a 1st Lt. While in MIA status, the USAF promoted him along with his contemporaries to the rank of Captain.